In Which
by Holz9364
Summary: A series of Drarry oneshots! I have no idea how many more there will be or when they will be posted. Mostly humour, romance, fluff, etc. There will be a few angsty ones though (but you can always skip over them!) :) Rated M just in case. [ALSO UPLOADED ON A03 UNDER NAME 'Holz9364'].
1. Draco & Harry talk in the Ruins

**...Draco & Harry talk in the Ruins of Hogwarts  
**

It was all over, but not everyone was celebrating. Draco Malfoy could not just switch off all of the pain and suffering that he had seen. He could not just cheer and laugh and celebrate like the others in the great hall. All he felt as he wandered through the deserted corridors of the ruin that had once been Hogwarts, was relief and pain.

His parents were gone now, they had left the moment that it ended. Draco did not know what would happen to them, but he suspected they would be punished for their involvement, and that they would likely end up in Azkaban. _He_ could even end up in Azkaban for his involvement, he had not killed anyone, he had not even wanted to hurt anyone but he knew it was a possibility.

He sighed and walked through a door that had been pulled off of its hinges, onto a stone bridge that connected two of the schools towers together. He absentmindedly kicked a bit of rubble off the bridges broken edge and walked into the empty tower on the other side. It was eerie, walking through Hogwarts with nobody around, even the ghosts were all gathered in the great hall.

Draco was almost certain that he would not see anyone as he climbed a spiral staircase to the top of the tower and forced open a locked door into an old Defence against the Dark Arts classroom. He was incredibly surprised when he saw someone else here because this tower was rarely used for classes, and he did not even know that anyone else knew about it.

It was clear from a quick glance at the back of the person's head that it was Harry Potter, he would recognise that jet black mop anywhere. Draco contemplated leaving and hoped that he had not been spotted yet. But unfortunately for him, Harry turned around.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" He asked bitterly, "I thought you would have run back home with your Mummy and Daddy by now."

"I decided to stay," Draco said stiffly, "To help with the restoration of the castle."

"How _generous_ of you," Harry muttered.

Draco rolled his eyes, "The real question Potter, is what are _you_ doing up here? Shouldn't you be in the great hall where they're all celebrating your victory?"

"You make it sound like I won a Quidditch game," Harry said, "Why would I want to celebrate? Do you know how many people I lost tonight?"

Draco sat down on one of the dusty desks and said, "I think everyone lost someone tonight."

The windows were blown out up here and it was a little chilly as dawn began to break through the darkness.

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many, to so few."

Harry frowned, "Is that your way of saying thank you?"

Draco didn't respond for a moment, "I suppose it is."

"Wait," Harry's frown deepened, "Isn't that a…muggle quote?"

Draco nodded, "Winston Churchill said it in World War two, after the Battle of Britain."

Harry didn't have the time or energy to hide the surprise on his face. Draco smiled ever so slightly, "I do read muggle books, Potter."

"What does it mean?" Harry asked curiously.

"That depends on your perception," Draco said honestly, "Applied in the case of _this_ war I suppose it means that never in any wizarding war, has the whole country owed so much to so few people."

"Those few being?"

"You, Granger, Weasley…the Order of the Phoenix," Draco elaborated, turning his gaze to the window. Dawn was now beginning to break through the cracks with its harsh, bright orange light. Draco just studied the sky, more intensely than Harry had ever seen anyone look to the heavens.

Harry didn't speak for a moment, he and Draco had been civil just there. They had managed to have a whole conversation without arguing or insulting each other.

"What are you doing up here anyway Malfoy?"

"I like it up here," Draco said simply, "It's usually empty and quiet. I didn't even know anyone else knew about it."

Harry shrugged, "I come here sometimes when I want to be alone."

"So do I," Draco said.

"Well, I was here first," Harry said, "I'm not leaving."

"Neither am I," Draco said stiffly.

They didn't speak for a good while as the sky was illuminated in a painfully bright orange which shone into the room, giving light to every corner.

"Thanks Malfoy."

"What for?" Draco asked.

"In the courtyard when I revealed that I was alive… you threw me my wand," Harry said, catching the Slytherins eye.

Draco shrugged and said, "You're welcome. Thanks, for saving my life from the fiendfyre."

"As much as we have disagreed in the past, I would never just leave you to die," Harry said honestly.

"You're too noble," Draco remarked.

"Gryffindor trait," Harry said with the hints of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"There isn't a point continuing this rivalry," Draco said.

"Rivalry?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, "Is that what it is?"

Draco frowned, "What else would it be?"

"Hatred," Harry said bluntly.

"I never hated you, Potter," Draco said, surprised that Harry thought that he had.

"Really?" Harry said sceptically, "Because you kind of acted like you did."

Draco shrugged and said, "I was jealous of you actually, and bitter."

"Why were you bitter?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Because I extended the offer of friendship to you and you denied it. Trust me, people don't say no to me very often," Draco said, the hint of smile on his lips.

"So you acted like you hated me because you were pissed that I didn't become your friend?" Harry asked.

"Pretty much," Draco said, "And also because my Father gave me two options. Befriend you, or have nothing to do with you."

"I'll never understand your family Malfoy," Harry remarked.

"Trust me, neither will I," Draco said.

"Although your Mother did save my life. It was for selfish reasons, but she saved my life all the same," Harry said, "Did you know that?"

Draco shook his head.

"She told Voldemort I was dead, but she knew I was alive. She asked me if you were alive, and I said you were so she lied to Voldemort," Harry said.

Draco frowned, "She lied to the Dark Lord?"

"Never underestimate a Mother's love," Harry said, "It can do extraordinary things."

"Is that how you survived him twice? Love?" Draco asked.

At first Harry thought he was being sarcastic, but then he realised that the Slytherin was serious so he answered with a vaguely honest answer, "That was part of it."

Draco didn't push the issue anymore, "They'll go to Azkaban, my parents."

"Your Mother won't," Harry said, "And neither will you."

"How do you know?" Draco asked.

Harry shrugged, "It's just a feeling," he said as he pushed himself off of the desk, wincing in pain.

"You should probably go to the hospital wing," Draco said.

Harry shook his head, "Other people are much worse off than I am. Do you want your Father to go to Azkaban, Malfoy?"

Draco shrugged at the question and didn't reply. Harry began to walk towards the door before he heard the Slytherins response, "Yes."

Harry turned in the doorway, "You'd wish that on your own family?"

"Not my family," Draco said, not catching Harry's eye, "But my Father deserves to go to prison for what he's done. He should have the years taken from him that he took from-" he cut himself off and stopped himself from saying, 'me' then took a deep breath, "Other people."

Harry gave a brisk nod, "Then I expect he will. See you around Malfoy."

Not understanding Harry's cryptic remarks Draco pushed them aside and looked back out at the sunrise, listening to Harry's footsteps echo down the tower stairs.

* * *

The trial took place two weeks after the final battle. The Malfoy family were the first to be tried, and they were being tried as a family. Lucius Malfoy was sure that he would get away with it, like he had in the first war, so he stood proud with a slightly sly smile on his face as they waited in the middle of the court room. Draco sighed, he had lost weight in the two weeks since the battle, he was pale and anxious. He was certain that he would be sent to Azkaban. His Mother didn't look any better, Narcissa's face was gaunt and she was far too thin.

Draco couldn't believe how his Father could stand there and be smug and sly when his family were falling apart next to him because of his decisions. It made him hate the man all the more.

He tried to listen to the proceedings, but things blurred out and in the end he could only pick out the odd word or sentence. His senses picked up when the verdicts were being revealed however, and his heart pounded with fear.

"Draco Malfoy," The Judge said, "The jury have decided to drop all charges against you because of the aid you provided to the side of the light in the final battle, and because you never caused serious bodily harm or death to any person.'

Draco couldn't believe his luck, he was getting off completely free. No time in Azkaban, no probation, he was a free man.

"Narcissa Malfoy," The judge continued, "The jury have decided to drop all charges in light of the fact your home was commandeered by Death Eaters against your will, and due to the fact you suffered heavily yourself because of this. Like your son, you did not cause serious bodily harm or death to any person."

His Mother seemed just as surprised at the verdict, and his Fathers smug expression was growing by the second. Draco despised him, and he knew there was very small chance that he would actually be punished for his crimes.

"Lucius Malfoy," The judge said, turning his steely gaze to his Father, "The jury have found you guilty of all war crimes, including multiple counts of murder and torture. We hereby sentence you to a lifetime in Azkaban prison."

Draco's surprise was mirrored in his Mother's eyes, she looked horrified, and for a second Draco felt guilty for wishing this upon his Father as the man's reserve broke down. In the end he was dragged screaming and shouting from the court room, while Draco and Narcissa got to walk out free.

Even in the sorry state he was in however, Lucius Malfoy still managed to call in one last favour. One last day with his family, a chance to say goodbye before spending his life holed up in Azkaban. It was the last thing that Draco wanted, because he knew his Father didn't really want to say goodbye, he wasn't that affectionate. There was some other ulterior motive involved, which his Mother knew too, she had suffered his abuse for far longer than Draco had after all.

His last day, his goodbye, turned out to be almost exactly as bad as Draco thought it would be.

* * *

 _Knock. Knock_

"Sorry Ron," Harry said through the fireplace at Grimmauld Place, "Someone's at the door."

Ron raised an eyebrow, "Who'd be at your place at this time of night?"

"I have no idea," Harry said honestly, "But I suppose I better check. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing mate," Ron said, his face disappearing and the fire turning back to its normal colour.

Harry pulled his wand from his back pocket as he waked to the door. The war had made him paranoid, and it was rather late for anyone to be calling round at his house. He opened the door warily and raised his wand. But he almost dropped that wand in surprise when he saw the hunched, blonde-haired figure standing on the doorstep in the pouring rain.

"Malfoy!"

He looked up, his face bloody and bruised.

"What the hell happened to you?" Harry asked as he ushered his former enemy into his house.

Draco leant against the wall weakly, soaking wet and looking like he might collapse at any minute, "My Father…"

Harry frowned, "But…I thought he was imprisoned last week," he said.

Draco shook his head and said, "He found a loophole to say 'goodbye' to his family."

Harry's face was alight with anger as he took Draco's arm and led him into his living room, "He did this to you?" he asked as he pushed Draco into an armchair and performed a couple of drying charms.

Draco nodded, but said no more.

"Why?" Harry asked as he inspected Draco's injuries and contemplated calling Hermione, she knew the most medical magic.

"Because he was convinced I ratted him out and that was why he got time in Azkaban, and I didn't," Draco said.

Harry's face fell, and Draco caught it before he had the chance to cover it up.

"You don't have anything to do with this Potter, do you?"

"I… I vouched for you and your Mother," Harry admitted, "But from what you said to me the morning after the final battle, you didn't want your Father to be vouched for."

Draco didn't say anything as he eyed Harry suspiciously, "I didn't, but then I also didn't expect him to try and torture me to death."

"Why did you come here?" Harry asked.

Draco shrugged, wincing afterwards, "I didn't have anywhere else to go," he admitted reluctantly.

"Is your Mother okay?" Harry asked with genuine concern.

"As okay as someone can be after suffering 5 crucio attacks in a row," Draco said bitterly, "She's in St. Mungo's with my Aunt."

"You should be in St. Mungo's too Malfoy," Harry said, finding it strange and slightly surreal that Draco Malfoy was in his house after all that had happened while they were at school together.

Draco shook his head, "I'm fine, just a couple of light cuts and some bruises."

"Looks more like deep gashes," Harry remarked, "And two black eyes. How many crucio attacks did he put you through?"

Draco stayed silent, and Harry said, "Come on Malfoy, I can tell when injuries have been caused by crucio. I'm going to become an Auror."

He sighed, and Harry added slightly more softly, "Your Father won't find you here. You can stop protecting him and his secrets now."

"It was only three times," Draco said, "I've had much worse, it's fine."

Harry didn't say anything for a moment. He surveyed Draco, wondering why he was being so open and civil, then he smelled the firewhiskey on the Slytherins breath.

"You haven't broken anything have you?" Harry asked as he opened a glass cupboard and took out two glasses and a bottle of firewhiskey.

Draco shook his head and accepted the glass that Harry had handed him, "Thanks Potter."

Harry just nodded and sipped from his glass, Draco's face was swollen up and red with blood, dark marks were forming under both of his eyes and he seemed to be covering up an injury to his side.

"Can I have a look?" Harry asked, "At your injuries?"

Draco snorted, 'What do you know about healing Potter? Aurors just run in and don't worry about the mess they leave behind."

"Not anymore," Harry said, "Councillors are required by law to review the aftermath of every case now."

He snorted again, "That's great, wish they'd done that 10 years ago."

"Your Father abused you, didn't he Draco?" Harry asked.

He wasn't surprised when he didn't get an answer so Harry said, "Because if he did, I know how it feels. My Uncle beat the shit out of me when I was a little kid, and he let his son do the same."

"Yeah right Potter," Draco said, "You're the boy who lived, are you sure you weren't raised in a castle?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at the former Slytherin, "Malfoy, my bedroom until I was 11 was the cupboard under the stairs because my cousin was such a spoiled brat he needed two bedrooms. I might be a hero in the wizarding world, but I was a freak in the muggle world and I paid for it."

Draco seemed to narrow his eyes, but it was hard to tell since they were so swollen up, "I don't buy it."

"Well then I'll show you when you're well enough to take a trip into a pensieve," Harry said bitterly.

"My Father only did what any pure-blood man does to his children," Draco said angrily, "He _protected_ me. He was trying to make me into the right kind of young man, the kind of person _he_ wanted me to be."

The bitterness in Draco's voice was hard to listen to, even from Harry who had hated the boy for years. He was now beginning to sympathise with him however. After all, they had gone through pretty similar childhoods.

"Is that what you really think or what he brainwashed you into thinking?" Harry asked.

Draco's eyes flashed and with a flick of his wand Harry had forced his high school enemy into a deep sleep. Yawning himself, and still bewildered by the events of the night he levitated him upstairs so he could sleep in a bed, not on the sofa.

* * *

When Draco Malfoy opened his eyes groggily, his surroundings weren't those of his bedroom in the Manor. They weren't that different either though… he was lying in a four poster bed with thick green curtains and the walls were covered in Slytherin regalia.

He frowned as he sat up, wincing only slightly. The majority of his injuries from the night before were gone, but the last thing he really remembered was showing up on Potters doorstep. He had been drinking, so his mind was a little foggy. He got to his feet, noticing the blood was gone from his clothes as he pushed open the door and walked out onto the landing of a draughty, grim looking staircase.

He glanced back at the door and the one opposite it, "Regulus" and "Sirius", hadn't Potters Godfather been Sirius Black? Draco thought to himself, maybe this was his house. He made his way down the stairs cautiously, past the mounted heads of dead house elves and into the hall where he smelt cooking.

Following it down a staircase he arrived in what was clearly the kitchen, although it was dusty and cold. Standing over the oven whistling was Potter.

"Morning," he said as he turned around.

"Where am I?"

"In my house," Harry replied.

"This is your house?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"Not really, it's my Godfathers house, but he left it to me when he died," Harry said.

"Right," Draco said, sitting down at the table, "So I just showed up here last night?"

"Pretty much," Harry said simply, "Then you passed out so I put you in Regulus's old room."

"Sorry," Draco said sheepishly, "I was-"

"Drunk, I noticed," Harry said, "Although you were still being an arse."

Draco chuckled, "Thanks, for healing me and all, you should have just kicked me out."

Harry shrugged, "I sympathised with you. Do you like bacon, sausages and egg?"

Draco nodded, and watched Harry in bemusement as he put the food onto two plates before sitting down opposite Draco and shoving a plate in front of him.

"Why are you so comfortable with me in your house?"

"Besides what you may think, you're not that scary Malfoy," Harry said through a mouthful of sausage.

"Huh," Draco said simply as he stabbed a bit of bacon, "So was your Godfather in Slytherin?"

Harry shook his head, "Nah, the Blacks are a very old pure-blood family, the rest of them were all in Slytherin. My Godfather was in Gryffindor and his family hated him for it, he ran away and lived with my Dad as soon as he was old enough."

Draco didn't say anything, and for a moment they ate in silence.

"I'm not going back, to the Manor," Draco said, "I don't know why I'm telling you that."

Harry chuckled, "Because it's better to say it out-loud than to think it over and over in your head? I am surprised, I thought you'd go back for your Mothers sake."

Draco snorted, "A Mother who was too scared of her Husband to even try and stop him from trying to kill his son? I don't think so."

"She lied to Voldemort for you," Harry said, "She told him I was dead because I gave her information on you."

Draco's eyes flickered briefly, "I know, but it's a little too late."

"So what are you going to do?" Harry asked curiously.

Draco shrugged, "I don't know, get my life together, try and find someone who'll employ an ex-Death Eater with a reputation like mine."

"You'll get a job," Harry said, "Your record is fairly clean after that hearing."

"Which I assume you had something to do with," Draco said.

Harry only smiled.

"Thanks for this, Potter," Draco said gesturing around as he got to his feet, "I'll see you around."

"You can come round here whenever you want," Harry said, "It's just me and the dead house elves."

Draco snorted, "Cheerful lot, aren't they?"

"Aren't all pure-bloods this morbid?" Harry asked with a snigger as they walked up the stairs to the hall.

"They're either incredibly morbid, or incredibly extravagant," Draco said matter-of-factly.

Harry laughed, "Figures."

"I'll let myself out," Draco said with a forced smile, "See you Potter."

"See you," Harry said with a brief wave as he shut the front door on Draco's retreating back.

* * *

"Potter."

"Malfoy," Harry said with a slight smile when he walked into the former Slytherin in Diagon Alley.

"I heard you joined Auror training," Draco said.

Harry nodded, "Well, I needed to do something and it's all I've got experience in. Did you figure your life out yet?"

Draco shrugged, "Sort of," he said, "Are you in a hurry?"

Harry shook his head, "I've got all of the time in the world."

"Mind if I buy you lunch?" Draco asked, "As a thank you for that…breakdown, of mine."

Harry laughed, "Breakdown? I wouldn't say it was quite that bad, but I won't say no to lunch either."

Draco gave him a slight smile, "I know a good place in muggle London," he said.

"Since when did you become so cordial with me?" Harry asked curiously as they walked together.

Draco snorted, "I'm just being polite Potter."

"You just can't stand the thought of being seen as nice," Harry said in amusement, "Did you end up getting a job in the law department?"

Draco smirked slightly, "I'm a junior lawyer."

"I'm not surprised," Harry said as they neared the muggle place that Draco had mentioned, "Aren't all lawyers slimy gits?"

"Aren't all Aurors pretentious Gryffindors?" Draco combatted.

Harry grinned, "Touché."

Draco smirked as they walked into the café and sat down, "I started last week, its not bad. They all look at me like I'm going to start murdering people at any minute, but apart from that I can handle it."

Harry chuckled, "Auror training is tough, but nothing harder than what I've already done."

"Not that you're at all cocky about it," Draco remarked.

"I saved the entire Wizarding World and killed the darkest, evillest wizard _ever_ at the age of 17," Harry said with a grin, "I think I have the right to be cocky about that."

Echoing Harry's earlier words Draco said, "Touché."

"Anyway, if you've got such a flashy lawyer job I assume you found a place to live?" Harry asked, "Or did you just go home?"

"I've not been home since that night," Draco said darkly, "And my Father is still in Azkaban, rightfully. I haven't found anywhere yet, the pay isn't great as a junior."

"So where are you staying?" Harry asked curiously.

"The Leaky Cauldron," Draco said with a sigh, "My Mother has cut me off, on my Father's order, which means no inheritance."

"I've just bought a new flat," Harry said after a moment of trepidation, "It's in muggle London, close enough to the Ministry, and it's got two fireplaces."

"Sounds lovely," Draco said.

"Well, it has two bedrooms," Harry said, "You could stay there if you want."

Draco's eyes widened, but his mouth remained shut, Harry waffled, "It's just an idea, I mean you'd still have to pay bills and help buy food, but there's no mortgage."

Draco never took chances, everything was meticulous and thought out in his world, so when he opened his mouth and said, "Sure," he surprised himself as much as he surprised Harry.

Harry's eyes widened too, he obviously hadn't expected that answer, but he smiled and said, "Good, well, I'll show you around after lunch."

Draco nodded, letting a small smile slip onto his face, "That would be nice," he said calmly when his stomach was actually doing flips. He had never had friends of the proper sort, just allies and bodyguards. This was his chance, the one he had missed in 1st year by being a cocky, pompous git, and he wasn't about to watch it whizz by him again.

 **The End :)  
**


	2. Draco is in Denial

**...Draco is in Denial  
**

 _ **A/N:**_ **_This is based on a tumblr post, posted by accio-malfoy! Here are the two posts that inspired this piece of silliness;_**

 ** _"Draco:I'm -_**  
 ** _Pansy:Gay?_**  
 ** _Pansy:Madly in love with Potter?_**  
 ** _Pansy:Rather pathetic in your attempts to get him to notice you?_**  
 ** _Pansy:All of the above?_**  
 ** _Draco:..._**  
 ** _Draco:I'm off to the Owlery_**  
 ** _Draco:..._**  
 ** _Draco:And fuck off Pansy"_**

 ** _and this one, from pretentious-git on tumblr;_**

 ** _"Most draco days_**  
 ** _Draco: *pissed off* Harry Potter can go suck my fucking dick_**  
 ** _Person: but doesn't he already_**  
 ** _Draco: you shut the hell up"_**

* * *

By the second week of their '8th Year' at Hogwarts, the Slytherins were despairing. They had a shared common room with the other students who had returned to re-do their final year of schooling. But they still had to share a dorm room with those who had been in their own house. This meant that the male Slytherins were far more affected by this sense of despair than the female Slytherins.

However, it affected all of them in some way or another. The problem was that Draco Malfoy was madly in love with Harry James bloody Potter. Everyone could see it, especially them because they were incredibly perceptive. The only person who could not see it, or more accurately would not accept it, was Draco Malfoy himself.

The first two weeks of the term were therefore hellish. They had been forced to listen to Draco rant about Harry Potter for 7 years, and they _had_ rather naively hoped that he would shut the hell up about him now that the war was over. But alas, they had been wrong.

Every minute of every day Draco talked about Potter. The only time he stopped was when he was sleeping, eating, or in a class that forbade him from speaking. The Slytherins who called themselves his friends had tried to avoid him at first, but he had always managed to find them, so they had been forced to think up a new tactic.

That new tactic was called being blunt as hell, and annoying the crap out of their friend at the same time, and Theodore Nott decided to kick things off.

"Hey Theo," Draco said as he flopped on the sofa in the common room one evening, "I'm-"

"Gay?"

Draco blanched, "What?" He spluttered.

Theo smirked, "Gay, Draco. You like men, you want to kiss them, you want to fuck them, you want to suck-"

"That's enough!" Draco exclaimed, looking incredibly flustered as he glanced around the common room.

"Struck a nerve there, did I?" Theo asked smoothly.

Draco glared at him, "No, and I'm not gay. You can't talk anyway, snogging anything that bloody moves! Ugh, anyway as far as Potter goes, he can-"

"Suck your dick?"

Draco's face reddened even more, "I...what...Theo!" he spluttered

Theo just grinned at his friend and got to his feet, "Night Draco," he said in a sing-song sort of way as he left the common room.

* * *

The other Slytherins had seen Theo's approach, and they saw its effect. He had not said a single word to Theodore Nott after that conversation, if you could call it that. In fact Draco had actually gone to the extent of avoiding Theo.

Blaise Zabini decided to have a go next. Draco sat down next to him in Potions, and began to mutter under his breath, "Honestly Blaise, he's such an arrogant tosser! I mean I'm-"

"Desperate to fuck him?"

Draco was so startled by this response that he dropped an entire jar of newts eyes into his cauldron. It promptly exploded in his face, and he passed out on the floor.

Blaise shared a rather wicked grin with his fellow Slytherins.

* * *

Their method was now tried and tested. Draco had not said a word to Blaise since his surprise response in Potions two days previously. And Draco's eyebrows had still not grown back yet either. The next Slytherin to have a go was Tracey Davis.

"Trace. Can I sit with you?" Draco asked as he spotted his friend in the library.

Tracey nodded, immersed in her book, "Sure."

Draco sat down next to her at the secluded table towards the back of the library. He let out a fairly loud sigh and opened his book, "Can you believe that Gryffindor actually won that Quidditch match? I mean of course they did, it was for charity, it was probably engineered that way. I think Potter is cheating, he always catches the snitch so quickly. Nobody can be that good a seeker after not practicing for a year! I'm-"

"Sexually frustrated about how much you want to get in Harry Potter's pants?"

Draco's arms slipped, and he fell face first into the table with a thump.

Tracey grinned triumphantly as Madam Pince grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and threw him out of the library for making too much noise in the quiet section.

* * *

This method was proving to be very effective. Three out of the five Slytherins who had suffered through Draco's 7 year rant about his love for Harry Potter, and returned to Hogwarts for an 8th instalment of it, were no longer dealing with the pain of this affliction anymore.

Daphne Greengrass decided that she was going to give it a try, sick of Draco constantly whining to her about Harry _freaking_ Potter.

"Daph, wait up," Draco said, jogging and catching up with her in the darkened grounds of the school.

Daphne glanced at him as they walked towards the castle together, both caked in mud after a particularly wet practice session down at the Quidditch Pitch.

"We're going to massacre Gryffindor in the first game of the season. I need to beat Potter, the arrogant fucking bastard that he is. I have the best strategy plan worked out too, I'm-"

"In complete denial about the fact that you want to take Harry Potter and fuck him against the wall of that bathroom he tried to kill you in?"

Draco stumbled, "What?" he tried to hiss, but sort of squeaked.

"You heard me," Daphne said, holding her head up high and walking a little faster.

Draco fell over his feet as he hurried to keep up with her, and Daphne smirked. She continued her walk up to the castle, leaving him face down in the mud.

* * *

Pansy Parkinson had watched this entire thing go down, torn between feeling sorry for her best friend and pissing herself laughing at his expense. In all honesty she had had to put up with more of his Potter-whining than any other Slytherin here. Apart from perhaps Crabbe and Goyle, but they had been too stupid to work out that it was anything other than hatred.

So by that logic, Pansy had as much reason to want to end the torment as anyone else. But she did feel sorry for Draco, with his unrequited love for the scrawny, specky boy-who-wouldn't-bloody-die.

This was why she had held off on using the method that her fellow Slytherins had shown to be so effective. Until that was, she could not take one more moment of his bloody complaining. She was sitting in the common room when he walked in from his dorm room. He immediately sought her out and said, "Pansy, I'm-"

"Gay? Madly in love with Harry Potter? Pathetic in your attempts to get him to notice you? All of the aforementioned?"

Draco's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He stumbled down the last step into the common room and Pansy smirked. They had brought this elegant, aristocratic statue of a man to his knees in the space of a few weeks through the medium of bluntness. That might have seemed an odd thing, but Slytherins were _never_ blunt. They _never_ said what they meant, they walked on eggshells, tiptoed past sleeping dragons, danced around bushes. This approach was so bizarre that it actually worked.

But this time it didn't.

Draco glared at his best friend, "I'm off to the owlery."

"Wonderful," Pansy said with a slight smirk.

"And fuck you Pansy," Draco added before he stalked out of the room.

* * *

"I have gathered you all here today to-"

"What is this, a fucking funeral?" Theo asked in amusement.

Draco glared at his friend. He was sitting on the teacher's desk in a disused Potions classroom, and he had gathered Theo, Blaise, Tracey, Daphne and Pansy in this classroom.

"I am making a statement, Theo."

"Get on with it then," Daphne said, raising an eyebrow at the blond man.

Draco gave a stiff nod, "I have gathered you all here today to apologise for the past 7 years of tormenting that I have put you through. I am _aware_ that I talk about Harry Potter a little more than I should-"

"A _little_?"

"Shh, Blaise!"

"And I understand why you felt the need for this intervention you have been staging over the past few weeks," Draco said with a shaky breath, "So today I will finally confess to you all the truth...the truth I have been holding inside for so long. And I want you all to know that it is no easy thing, and I am only telling you because your friendship is very dear to me."

"Get on with it!" The Slytherins echoed.

Draco took another breath and blurted out, "I do have a preference for male company and I do have a frustrating weakness for dark-haired, green eyed men in specific and yes, okay, fine! You are all right, I'm in love with Harry Potter!"

A familiar laugh came from the back of the classroom, and Draco's face paled. There was a flurry of movement and Harry Potter appeared out of nowhere (or so it seemed to those who did not know about the existence of his invisibility cloak). He smirked, and his green eyes sparkled as he stepped into the light.

"Well Malfoy, I never knew you felt that way about me," Harry said, a satisfied grin appearing on his face.

The Slytherins seemed to be just as stunned by this development as Draco. But Pansy was giggling, and that was a rare sight. Draco's eyes widened as he realised that he had been entirely set up by his bitch of a best friend (who he loved dearly, really), and that he had just made a complete fool of himself in front of everyone he considered as a friend, and in front of the boy he had fancied for 7 long bloody years. He came to the conclusion that he must do the only thing that a proper upstanding member of the pure-blood society could do in this situation; he fainted.

 **The End ;)**


	3. Draco Loves Fall

**...Draco Loves Fall  
**

 _ **A/N: Based on this tumblr post by 'foxy-pumpkin';**_

" _ **reasons why fall is superior:**_

 _ **-no heat**_

 _ **-chilly weather**_

 _ **-no sweating**_

 _ **-halloween**_

 _ **-sweaters**_

 _ **-boots**_

 _ **-jeans**_

 _ **-no shaving**_

 _ **-flannel**_

 _ **-pumpkin spice everything**_

 _ **-leaves changing colors**_

 _ **-pumpkins**_

 _ **-cute animals getting ready to hibernate**_

 _ **-cozy pajamas**_

 _ **-thanksgiving**_

 _ **-it's not summer**_

 _ **-candy**_

 _ **-fall scents**_

 _ **-literally everything"**_

* * *

Draco Malfoy loved fall. He had always loved the season. He had loved it from the moment he had jumped into a pile of leaves in the back garden of Malfoy Manor. His Mother had shrieked in fear, terrified that he would drown amongst the leaves. His Father had scoffed and shaken his head when he realised that Draco had ripped the sleeve of the new cashmere sweater that he had bought him.

Harry Potter on the other hand, hated fall. He hated it with a passion, and he had never been able to see the beauty in the season like others did. Like Draco did. To him fall was a time of pain and suffering. The red leaves on the trees made him think of his Mother with her fiery personality and bright red hair. Halloween was a horrible day, he hated it. It was the day his life had changed, the day the people who created him had been ripped out of his life.

The first year that they were together Draco had accepted Harry's hatred of the season. Harry knew that he was downplaying how much he enjoyed the time of year, but at the time he wasn't particularly worried about that. He was just glad that Draco was respecting the way he felt about it. However, by the time their second fall came around, they had moved in together.

This of course changed everything. Harry could not hide from how much Draco loved fall, and Draco was determined to show Harry that it really could be a wonderful time of year, despite the tragedy that marred the season for Harry. It started out in a fairly subtle way, and it began as soon as the leaves began to change in late August, early September. They had a large flat with a spare bedroom that they rarely used. In all honestly the only people who ever stayed there was Ron (when he had said something particularly stupid to Hermione and had been thrown out of the flat for it) and Theo (when he had done something slightly illegal and was hiding from the Aurors, the irony being that Harry **was** an Auror).

Draco's first day off in September was when it all began. He switched his wardrobe around, putting his polo shirts away in the wardrobe in the spare room and replacing them with his large stash of cashmere jumpers. Harry thought he suited them very well so he didn't complain. Draco's jumpers were fitted and elegant, and Harry's...well Harry had a stash of Weasley jumpers and several cosy knitted garments that had come from Hermione. So while Draco looked very smart in his cashmere jumpers and chinos, Harry slobbed around in jeans and knitted jumpers adorned with snitches, dragons, lions and house elves wearing santa hats.

Harry had thought nothing of this wardrobe change, nor had he blinked an eye when Draco got rid of his designer trainers and replaced them with winter boots. However, when Draco began to make little comments here and there Harry cottoned on to what his boyfriend was doing.

"Ah," Draco sighed one night as he sat on the sofa, a blanket wrapped around him and a book in his hands, "I do love this weather. It's so nice not to be roasting alive, don't you think?"

Harry shrugged, "I like summer."

"Yes, you would," Draco said slightly irritably, "You tan, I burn."

"That's because you have the complexion of a vampire," Harry said with an amused glance at the blonde, "Fancy a cuppa?"

Draco nodded glumly, no doubt he was upset that his plan did not seem to be working.

* * *

As September wore on Draco continued his attempts to turn Harry into a lover of fall. He decided to try and woo him, which was amusing but it didn't make Harry like the season anymore.

"You look good in fall."

Harry frowned as he put the pasta he was cooking for dinner on to simmer, "How do I look any different than I do at any other time of the year?"

Draco smirked slightly, "Well you wear jeans more often in fall and you're arse looks glorious in jeans."

Harry grinned, "Why thank you," he said in amusement, taking two wine glasses out of the cupboard.

"And then there's the whole flannel thing," Draco said slyly, "You have a lot of flannel shirts and I don't know why but it really turns me on. You in jeans and flannels shirts that is."

Harry snorted in amusement as he turned to face Draco once more, "Me in jeans and flannel turns you on?"

Draco nodded, "Maybe it's the small town, homeboy thing."

Harry shook his head in amusement and turned away from Draco so that he could pour the wine, "Well as honoured as I am, I still hate fall."

"I'm just letting you know why _I_ love fall," Draco murmured as he came up behind Harry and pressed something rather hard against the arse he had just been talking about, "I mean you can feel how much I love you in fall, right?"

Harry chuckled as Draco kissed his neck, "Yes, I can. But it's not going to make _me_ love fall. Nice try though."

Draco rolled his eyes and groaned as he stalked away from Harry into the living room.

* * *

"I love the smell of frost in the morning."

Harry rolled his eyes, "It's 6am and it's freezing! Shut the window!"

Draco sighed and pulled the kitchen window shut, "Don't you just love that frosty smell?"

"No," Harry yawned.

"I love the cold," Draco said, "It's so nice to just lie under a blanket and huddle for warmth. It's far better than being sticky and sweaty in summer."

"I quite like being sticky and sweaty with you," Harry said somewhat suggestively.

Draco grinned at his boyfriend, "Well _I_ like it too, but I'm just saying that I quite like cold weather."

"I like cold weather too," Harry admitted, "I like the weather in winter. I like ice skating and snow ball fights and Christmas trees. But I don't like humid sticky weather and that is what the weather is like in fall."

Draco sighed, "I'll never make you love this season, will I?"

"Nope," Harry said as he grabbed his briefcase, "And I'm gonna be late so I have to go. Love you."

"I love you too, even if you do hate fall," Draco said huffily.

Harry chuckled and kissed Draco on the lips, "I'll see you tonight. Stop trying to make me fall in love with a season that I hate!"

"Whatever," Draco grumbled as Harry left their flat.

* * *

"What the hell are you drinking?"

"Pumpkin spiced latte," Draco said with a smirk, "It's delicious, try some."

Harry frowned at his boyfriend but accepted the cup he was holding out. He sipped the drink and hummed, "That is nice."

"Finally, you like something about fall!" Draco said, a hint of excitement slipping into his voice, "I love pumpkins."

"To eat or look at?" Harry asked in amusement.

They were sitting in Hagrid's hut having agreed to tea, coffee and a catch-up with the man. However Hagrid had run off rather unexpectedly when Fang had chased a deer into the forbidden forest. Draco was looking out of the window at the giant pumpkins outside the hut.

"Both, they're very appealing, all big and plump and orange. I wish I could pull off orange," Draco said thoughtfully.

Harry snorted, "Draco, you could pull off just about any colour."

Draco shook his head, "No, I definitely can't pull off orange. You can though, you look very catching in that orange jumper of mine that you stole."

Harry smiled, "Do you just love fall because you always want me in jumpers, jeans and flannel?" he teased.

Draco grinned, "Well that is part of the allure of the season, but I've always loved fall. I've loved it ever since I was a little kid..."

"I'm sorry that I don't," Harry said, resting his hand on top of Draco's, "It has nothing to do with you, and your efforts to try and make me fall in love with it are valiant. But stop wasting your time babe."

As a general rule Harry never used pet names. Draco did all of the time, but Harry only used them when he was taking the piss. A.K.A, "Honey, I'm home!" or "Yes, darling!" or when Draco was particularly sick with man flu "Oh poor baby." So his use of 'babe' really struck Draco. He did mean that he appreciated Draco's efforts, but he really did not feel like he would ever be able to love fall.

Draco gave him a small nod and squeezed his hand, "Okay," he said simply, but it was enough.

* * *

Draco did not actively try to change Harry's opinion after that but he didn't hide how much he loved the season either. He bought a fall themed air freshener and sighed contently every time he walked into the room and it sprayed. It never failed to make Harry smile.

They took their dog (well it was really a crup) for a walk around the park across the road from their flat. As always they walked around the park hand in hand. They had never hidden their relationship in the muggle world or in the wizarding world. They had lived in this area for long enough now that people smiled at them and said hello in the park, with no regard for their sexuality. Harry couldn't help but chuckle when Draco stopped in his tracks to watch something unfold.

"Look," Draco breathed, "look at the cute little squirrels with their nuts in their mouths, all ready to hibernate."

"I wish I could hibernate some winters," Harry chuckled as the crup barked loudly, "They're only squirrels Padfoot," he murmured.

The dog whined a little but stopped barking as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the squirrels.

"They're so cute!" Draco said, "Look at them!"

Harry smiled and gave Draco's arm a tug, "They are very cute, but we have to finish walking Padfoot and get home. We have that Halloween party at the Weasley's that we can't get out of, remember?"

Draco nodded and allowed himself to be dragged away from the incredibly cute family of squirrels.

* * *

"I'm sorry that you hate Halloween," Draco murmured.

"It's fine," Harry said softly, "But thank you for dragging me away from all of that."

They could hear the noise of the party behind them, but they were safely removed from it. It had gone on well into the night, and Harry was exhausted as early morning approached. A party at the Weasley's was always a guaranteed night out after all.

Draco had been able to tell that the whole thing was getting to be a bit much for Harry so he had dragged him out to the orchard and they were sitting on a bench Draco had transfigured out of fallen branches.

"Do you always think about it, every year?" Draco asked, his arm around Harry.

Harry nodded glumly, "I can't help it. Everything about Halloween makes my blood run cold. I just imagine the kids running around the streets in their costumes with no idea that the caped man walking past them was a mass murderer. I imagine the pumpkin outside my parent's door that Voldemort blew out before he walked into the house and killed him. The smell of pumpkin soup makes me wonder if that was what they ate that night. If that was the last thing that they ate...the sweets make me wonder if they would have had trick or treaters at the door if it weren't for the fidelius charm..."

Harry trailed off, and Draco gripped his hand tightly, "I really do understand that, all of it. But at the same time you can only write over the bad memories by making new ones, happy ones."

"You've helped me make a lot of happy memories, Draco," Harry said honestly, he smiled wistfully at his boyfriend, "I don't just think of my parents anymore when I think of fall. Halloween still sucks, but the season as a whole doesn't. I think of you and your obsession with cute animals now, and I think of your love of anything with pumpkin spice in it. I think of you curled up with a blanket and your favourite book. I think of waking up in the middle of the night with you clinging on for warmth."

Draco smiled sheepishly and glanced down.

Harry chuckled at his sudden shyness, "You showed me that there really is some beauty in fall, Draco. The leaves changing colours used to make me sad, I saw the red leaves and I thought of my Mum. Now I see the old leaves dying for the new leaves to grow and I see new starts _because_ of you. I never thought about the smell of frost in the morning, but now I smell it and I think of you. When I walk to work and the grass crunches beneath my feet I just think of you walking over that frost covered grass before anyone else can touch it and loving the sound of it beneath your feet."

"Have I really managed to make you fall in love with fall?" Draco asked in surprise.

Harry laughed and looked up, catching Draco's mesmerizing grey eyes, "You made me fall in love with you. I love how much you love fall and now everything about it reminds me of you."

"Was that a yes?" Draco asked with a sly smile.

"It was a sort of," Harry said softly, his lips inches away from Draco's.

Draco smiled slightly and leant forward, capturing Harry's kiss in a slow, soft kiss. Harry's eyes fluttered shut, mostly out of instinct but also because he was exhausted. Draco broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Harrys, "Does this mean you'll be drinking pumpkin lattes and jumping into piles of leaves with me next summer?"

"Don't push it," Harry murmured, placing another soft kiss on Draco's lips.

 **THE END :)  
**


	4. Draco is Gullible

**...Draco is Gullible  
**

Draco Malfoy was a very intelligent man. He was a Potions brewer, he occasionally provided cover for Horace Slughorn at Hogwarts. He read lots of books, but the problem was that _all_ of them were wizarding books. His boyfriend took advantage of this, just like he took advantage of the fact that Draco had never seen a muggle movie, and refused to ever go to see one.

They were lounging in their flat one evening when Harry had an idea. He decided to test it, to see quite how clueless Draco was when it came to the muggle way of life. Because if he was honest, it irritated Harry. He quite liked some muggle customs and he actually missed them. He wanted to sit in a movie theatre eating popcorn with Draco and holding his hand. But to enable this to happen, he would have to convince Draco that he really did know nothing about Muggles.

"Draco, do you know what I found out about Dumbledore when I was on the run finishing that mission for him?" Harry asked conversationally.

Draco closed his book and looked up at Harry, whose lap he was lying in, "No, but I'm sure you're going to enlighten me."

Harry put on his best straight face, "He had a squib brother called William, but everyone called him Willy."

"Lots of pure-bloods and half-bloods have squib siblings," Draco said with a frown, "That's not exactly a huge shock."

"It was pretty cool though, what he did for a living that is," Harry said, "He created this chocolate factory, but he had knowledge of magic even though he couldn't use it. He got goblins to work for him, and he made this factory like a wonderland. There were rivers running with chocolate and huge toadstools that were actually marshmallows. He made bubblegum that tasted like an entire meal, and gobstoppers that you could suck forever."

Draco looked vaguely impressed, "That is pretty cool."

"Yeah, he was famous in the muggle world," Harry said matter of factly, "He even had the same eyes as Dumbledore. You know the real sparkly sort of blue?"

"Uh-huh."

Harry nodded, "So the muggle world isn't quite so dull as you think."

* * *

"Did you know Albus Dumbledore had a squib brother?" Draco asked as he helped Hermione chop carrots in the kitchen.

"No, how do you know that?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"Harry told me," Draco replied, Harry was in the living room catching up with Ron. The redhead had been off work for a while after getting injured on a case. Hermione had invited them both around for dinner to catch up, "he was called William and he had a chocolate factory. He was famous in the muggle world apparently, his chocolate factory had edible toadstools and chocolate waterfalls. He even gave out golden tickets to find an heir for his factory when he realised that he was going to die childless."

Hermione couldn't help it, she grinned in amusement, "Draco. That's the plot of a muggle movie called _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_."

Draco frowned, "What?"

"You would know that if you ever came to the cinema with me," Harry said with a wicked smirk as he lounged in the doorway.

Draco looked like he might huff like a child for a moment. He glared at Harry and said, "Well I won't fall for something like that again Potter!"

It still astounded Harry that Draco called him Potter. They had been together for nearly 5 years by this point.

* * *

"Who is this old Uncle Bilius that the Weasel clan are always on about?" Draco yawned as he and Harry dragged themselves into their flat at a ridiculous hour of the morning after a poker night with the Weasley's.

"Oh he's Ron's Uncle," Harry said as he kicked his shoes off and locked the front door with a twist of his hand, "He was a real party animal, until he died."

"How'd he die?" Draco asked, hanging up his coat and trudging towards the bedroom.

Harry grinned as he followed the blonde man, "He was killed by a rabbit."

Draco snorted, "How does a rabbit kill a fully grown man?"

"Well if it's a killer rabbit it can," Harry said, dropping down onto their huge and incredibly comfortable bed, "Bilius went to hunt some beast living in a cave near the house with a bunch of his friends. This rabbit came out and they all started laughing, but it was obviously cursed or something because it just lunged at them and attached itself to Bilius's face. It chewed his face right off."

"Must have had rabies," Draco yawned as he snuggled into Harry and fell straight asleep.

* * *

"Have you ever seen a killer rabbit?" Draco asked his good friend, Lily Moon.

Lily Moon, who taught Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts, frowned, "A killer rabbit?"

Draco nodded, he was having lunch at the school today while he covered for Slughorn who had come down with a fever, "A rabbit that can kill."

"I've never seen an ordinary rabbit that can kill a human, but a hare might be able to," Lily said, "Why?"

"Oh you know Ron?" Draco asked.

Lily nodded.

"Well his Uncle Bilius got his face bitten off by a killer rabbit. It must have had rabies or something, Harry said that Bilius and his friends went out to this cave to find it and it just lunged at him and bit his face right off."

Lily smiled slightly, "You're a proper full-blooded pure-blood aren't you?"

Draco frowned, "Yes, why?"

"Because I am 99% certain that didn't happen," Lily chuckled, "It's a plot line right out of a muggle movie called _Monty Python and the Holy Grail._ "

Draco groaned at his stupidity. He had been had by Harry _again_!

* * *

"Can you believe that story in the prophet?"

"What one?" Harry asked as he bit into his toast, "There are a lot of stories in the prophet."

"The one about the Nigerian woman being kidnapped by her Quidditch coach so he could use her talent to get rich here," Draco said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Oh that? It's not so hard to believe. I know someone who fell in love with their Quidditch coach actually," Harry lied.

"Who? And don't say I won't know them because I know everyone that you know," Draco said pointedly.

"You probably won't remember Romilda Vane. She was a couple of years below us at Hogwarts," Harry said offhandedly, "She was kind of obsessive, but she seemed nice enough. She went to one of those Quidditch summer camps, you know the ones they run in France?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Draco said, intrigued now.

"She fell in love with her Quidditch coach, but he was far older and he had a boyfriend. She spent the whole year shagging him and playing Quidditch with him," Harry said matter of factly.

"What happened at the end of the summer?" Draco asked, ever the romantic.

"Well the affair was discovered and the Quidditch coach got fired," Harry said sadly, "And Romilda was gutted, I reckon she was really in love with him despite it all. She had been looking forward to the final match they always do in those sort of things, and she was gutted he wouldn't be there. But he broke in and performed in the match, he kissed her in the middle of the Quidditch pitch too."

"Are they still together?"

"Nah," Harry replied, "Romilda's a good time girl, she was over it within about a month."

"It's a nice story though, very romantic," Draco said.

Harry nodded his agreement and tried his best to hide his smile.

* * *

"You'll never believe who I saw today Harry."

Harry glanced up at Neville, they were eating a delicious cheesecake with him and his wife Hannah, "Who did you see?"

"Romilda Vane, remember your little groupy?" Neville chuckled.

Hannah smiled slightly, "She was with Cormac McLaggen, of all people."

"Well she likes Quidditch players," Draco said offhandedly, "She had an affair with her Quidditch coach at one of those summer camps. He got fired when they found out and everything. He came back for the big game at the end of the match though, he even kissed her in the middle of the pitch."

Hannah smiled through her hands at Draco, "You've been had again Draco. That's the plot to a muggle chick flick called _Dirty Dancing_ , only it's dancing not Quidditch."

Draco looked at Harry irritably. The dark-haired man grinned, "When will you learn?"

"Oh screw you Potter!"

* * *

This continued for months...

"Soph, did you know goblins stayed in the forbidden forest?"

Sophie Roper, a half-blood Slytherin who had gone through school with Draco, looked up from her ice cream, "Uh...I'm pretty sure they don't."

"They do," Draco said, they were catching up in Fortescue's over ice cream sundaes, "I asked Lily, she teaches Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts. There aren't many of them, but a few do live out there. Apparently they stumbled across a witch from the castle who had gotten lost, and she lived with them. She taught them how to cook and everything, can you believe that? Goblins cooking?"

Sophie snorted, "No, I can't believe that. How does this story end, did the goblins eat her?"

"No," Draco replied indignantly, "She was petrified by a basilisk and fell into a deep sleep. But then-"

"Her one true love found the cure and woke her up, and they kissed?" Sophie finished with a raised eyebrow.

Draco could have cursed in frustration, "It's the plot of a bloody movie isn't it?"

"Uh-huh," Sophie grinned, " _Snow White and the Seven Dwarves_ to be precise. You really need to agree to go to the cinema with Harry or this is going to continue for years."

"I am not going anywhere near a muggle cinema and I will not fall for this anymore!" Draco remarked irritably.

Sophie didn't look convinced.

* * *

"I'm sorry that you got laid off Justin."

Justin Finch-Fletchley sighed, "Ah it's just one of these things Draco. Ever since the war we've been losing business. People just don't shop for ordinary clothes at wizarding stores anymore, the prefer the big, cheap muggle stores."

"Well it's still not ideal," Draco said, he had bumped into the former Hufflepuff on Diagon Alley, "Not when you've got mouths to feed."

"I'll find another job," Justin said, "It's not the end of the world."

"It could be a lot worse," Draco agreed, "After the First Wizarding War they shut down a lot of businesses in Knockturn Alley. It got so bad that the staff of one clothing shop they had closed had to start a strip group to make money."

Justin raised an eyebrow, "A strip group?"

"Yeah, they used to go around pubs and bars," Draco said in a whisper, "To make money to feed their kids. At least you don't have to do that."

"Yeah because that never happened," Justin said in amusement, "That's the plot-"

"Let me guess, a bloody movie!"

Justin nodded, looking incredibly bemused, "Uh, yes. _The Full Monty_."

Draco rolled his eyes, "I hate Harry. I can't believe I fell for it again! Ugh! See you later Justin."

"See you Draco," Justin said, watching the cursing former Slytherin leave, and wondering what on earth he had just witnessed.

* * *

"Did you hear about Theo?"

"Yeah, I saw it in the prophet," Draco sighed as he sat in Pansy's living room drinking wine and gossiping. Harry was working the late shift, and he needed a good old catch up with his best friend.

"Daphne broke up with him," Pansy said sadly, "But it would be hard, wouldn't it? I don't know if I could still love Blaise if he was a werewolf..."

"I'd still love Harry," Draco said, "I don't think it would matter if he was a werewolf or a vampire or anything."

"It's easy to say that though, but you don't know how you would react if it really happened," Pansy pointed out.

"I suppose," Draco said slowly, "But werewolves can be loved you know. My cousin Nymphadora was really young and naïve but then she fell in love with this werewolf. It was the full moon and he accidentally kidnapped her in the shrieking shack. But he was on wolfsbane so he didn't hurt her, and she saw how gentle and kind he was. So she spent the night just talking to him, but he couldn't talk back obviously. Anyway, she fell in love with him and then she kissed him as the sun came up and he became a man again. That man was the guy she married."

Pansy looked at Draco in amusement, "Honey, I'm not that well-versed in muggle movies. But even I know that's not true. It's a fairy-tale that they made into a movie, _Beauty and the Beast_.

"Oh goddamn it!" Draco snapped, "Damn my fucking Husband!"

Pansy grinned, "You married him sweetie."

* * *

"Xenophilius Lovegood has had a really interesting life," Draco said as he rocked a small baby in his arms.

"How so?" Hermione asked as she watched the small baby begin to drift off, "Oh Draco, you really are the baby whisperer. Rosie kept me up all through the night."

Draco smiled down at her, "She's adorable, for a Weasley."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Charming. You were saying, about Xeno?"

"Oh yes," Draco said in a whisper, "Well he had to wear braces on his legs when he was young which was why everyone made fun of him. He had a childhood sweetheart at Hogwarts, but everyone else bullied him and called him insane. After he left school he played Quidditch for England and got to meet the muggle queen. Then he went and fought in the First Wizarding War and lost his best friend. He came back and set up a shrimp fishing business for that friend because it was what he had always wanted to do-"

"I'm going to stop you right there because Harry has fooled you again," Hermione said with an amused smile, "And you had better not curse this time in front of my baby girl."

Draco just rolled his eyes, "What film was it this time?"

" _Forrest Gump_ ," Hermione replied.

Draco shook his head, "I don't know why I married him..."

"Because you love him, even if he does keep playing tricks on you," Hermione teased, "You can put it all to an end if you just agree to go to the cinema with him."

Draco sighed in a long-suffering way and glanced down at the little redheaded baby in his arms, "I hate it when he wins Rosie," he mumbled.

* * *

That had been the final straw. Draco returned to their flat after visiting little Rosie and Harry was still at work. However when Harry got in from his late shift that night he found Draco waiting for him in the living room.

The blonde man got to his feet and stared at her, he crossed his arms over his chest, "You win."

"What do I win?" Harry yawned, it had been a long night and he was exhausted.

"I don't know anything about the muggle world," Draco admitted, "And especially not about films. I'm really sick of you embarrassing me by telling the plots of movies and making me think they're real!"

"Alright then, come to the cinema with me like I've been asking for years and I'll stop," Harry grinned.

Draco rolled his eyes, but he was smiling very slightly, "Fine, I will go to the muggle cinema theatre with you."

"Movie theatre."

Draco glared at Harry, "Don't push it Potter."

Harry's grin only widened.

 **THE END :)  
**


	5. Draco Produces a Corporeal Patronus

**...Draco Produces a Fully Corporeal Patronus  
**

 _ **A/N: Based on this tumblr post by 'cassiafrankincense';**_

" _ **Oh fuck me" - Draco Malfoy, upon casting a corporeal patronus for the first time, and it's a goddamn stag.**_

* * *

Draco Malfoy had always known that Auror training was not going to be easy. He had expected the stares and the glares. He had expected the muttering, and the pranks, and the curses. He had expected the duels and the hexes. He was the son of a man who was rotting in Azkaban for his crimes. He was a former Death Eater himself, and these people had fought against those he had stood with. He had never expected an easy ride, he had expected to have to fight his way through the next three years to become a fully qualified Auror.

 _He_ knew that he was innocent. He had watched terrible things happen, but he had never participated in those things. Some people thought that made him just as bad, but in the eyes on the Ministry he was innocent. His trial had determined that, the fact they had let him join the Aurors determined that. Some people saw that, but those people were few and far between.

Draco was fairly certain that Harry Potter saw that. They hadn't spoken since they both began Auror training, but every so often Draco had caught Potter sending him a sympathetic glance when people yelled rude things in the corridors. He was quieter without his sidekick, Weasley had decided to help his older brother out with the joke shop. Longbottom was here instead, but his friendship with Potter was different. He was more of a calming influence, or so it seemed to Draco anyway. They didn't get partnered up immediately, they had to work in pairs on certain jobs but most of their training and studying was solo. In the 6 months they had been training together Draco had yet to work with Potter which he was very grateful for. He didn't know how that would go down.

The blonde man pulled himself out of his reverie as a bell sounded, signalling the end of their incredibly boring class on disguise and stealth. He got to his feet and slung his bag over his shoulder. He walked a short way behind Potter and Longbottom who were laughing about something or other as they walked to their Advanced Defence against the Dark Arts class down the corridor. Draco was dreading it, he had been all week because he knew that today was their final class in patroni magic. Gradually his silver fog had begun to take form, but he had yet to manage a fully corporeal patronus and if he failed today he would be marked down for the entire class.

He flung himself into his seat and watched as people were called to the front of the class to cast their patroni. By the time the Professor called out Longbottom's name Draco was well and truly nervous. He _knew_ that he was next. Longbottom didn't look at all concerned as he easily sent an enormous elephant soaring across the room. This merited a round of applause, and Draco felt sick as his name was called. He got to his feet and walked to the front of the class, desperately trying to think of a memory happy enough to conjure a fully corporeal patronus. That had always been his problem, finding a happy enough memory.

He made the mistake of looking out at the class when he stood at the front of the room. They were all frowning at him, watching him like he was going to fail. All but two, Longbottom looked curious and Potter looked sympathetic.

Draco shut his eyes, and nearly jumped when he heard Potter's voice in his head.

" _I'm using that telepathic charm they taught us last week. Think of a memory that is not only happy, but pure. I always think of my parents and the only perfect day that I have with them. I'm prodding in your mind a little, sorry. But your Mother is the trick, think of a perfect pure memory that fills you with joy."_

Alarmed, and slightly irritated, by this invasion of privacy, Draco kept his eyes shut tightly. He thought of his Mother, the memory was an old one. He was around 4 years old, and they had gone for a walk in the snowy gardens around the Manor on Christmas Eve. He fell over and spluttered and cried in the snow. His Mother had leant down and scooped him into her arms, warming him up and singing to him. He remembered thinking that she must be an angel and the memory had never failed to make him smile.

When Draco opened his eyes he made sure not to look at the class. He stared at the window and focused hard on the memory, "Expecto Patronum!" he shouted with all of his might.

He watched hopefully as the silver mist exploded from his wand. He thought it wasn't going to take shape, but it did and he was on the verge of grinning with delight when the smile was wiped right off of his face.

His eyes widened, and his grip on his wand loosened as the huge, majestic stag pranced across the room. He followed it as it sprung out of the door into the corridor, and then his eyes fell on Potter. His eyes were wide, and realisation seemed to be dawning in them. Next to him Longbottom was smirking and giving him a knowing sort of look. The rest of the class were just stunned, _everyone_ knew that Harry Potter's patronus was a stag. Everyone was silently debating the significance of the fact that Draco Malfoy's patronus was too.

"Uh, thank you Malfoy," Their Professor said.

Draco gave a stiff nod and walked briskly past Potter and Longbottom to his seat at the back of the classroom. He sat down and stared resolutely at his notes, he did not want to look anywhere _near_ Potter. He thumbed through the notes to the last few classes where they had studied patroni magic, and his heart began to sink as he read the words he had written in previous weeks.

" _Patroni magic is a variety of soul magic and thus it is claimed that it holds the key to soulmates. Patroni can correspond, and this is often the case in those destined for each other. For example, a wizard may have a lion patronus and the witch he is destined for may have a lioness patronus."_

Next to this official note Draco had scribbled, " _Potter's Father had a stag patronus, his Mother had a doe patronus."_

He could have hit his head off of the desk in frustration. What the hell did that mean? Why was his patronus a goddamn fucking stag? Well it was obvious really. His patronus was a stag because he was bloody well in love with Harry _fucking_ Potter.

"Oh fuck me," Draco muttered under his breath as he let his head onto the desk with a loud thump.

 **THE END :)**


	6. Draco's Wand Feels Friendly

**...Draco's Wand Feels Friendly in Harry's Hand  
**

"Oh Harry, it is _so_ fascinating! It's like a science, it's so specific and intricate and there is so much to learn! You would find it so fascinating! Just today I was learning..."

Harry loved his best friend very much. He absolutely adored Hermione, and he loved her like the sister he had never had. But as much as he loved her, he did occasionally find his coffee dates with her slightly tedious at times. When Harry met up with Ron they normally got pretty close to drunk, laughed about stupid things and...well they bitched about their fellow Aurors quite a lot too.

But Hermione just talked about her job _all of the time._ She loved it, and she was great at it, and Harry was proud of her. He was really proud of her, because she was doing an elite apprenticeship in wand manufacturing under Ollivander's watchful eye. He had to train someone up to take over the shop after all, he was an elderly man now and the war had really left its mark on him.

"Harry! Did you listen to a word that I just said?"

Harry cursed inwardly, Hermione had crossed her arms over her chest. Her latte was going cold, and her brown eyes were staring irritably into his.

"Yes, you were talking about wands...and learning and..." Harry trailed off, realising his feeble attempt to cover his ass was not working in the slightest.

Hermione huffed a little, "I just thought you would find it interesting!"

"I'm sorry Mione," Harry said in his most apologetic tone of voice, "My mind was just on work. You know we have this tough case at the moment."

Hermione's features softened and Harry felt momentarily guilty for lying to her.

"Well I was just telling you that today I learned about wand companionship."

Harry frowned, "Wand companionship?"

Hermione nodded eagerly, "It says a lot about the relationship between two people, the way their wands feel to each other. You can use mine comfortably even if it doesn't feel quite the same as your own for example, and that's a sign of strong friendship."

Harry's frown deepened, "I didn't know that."

Hermione nodded once more, "And Ollivander thinks wands can even hold the secret to soul magic. Not horcruxes, not the dark kind," she added when she saw concern flash in Harry's eyes, "He means soul magic as in soulmates."

Harry scoffed, "You believe in that rubbish?"

"Of course I do!" Hermione exclaimed, "We have to have something pulling us towards the person we are meant for!"

"But it's like Divination, and you admitted yourself that it was a woolly subject," Harry said with a shake of his head.

"Divination was a different story," Hermione said, suddenly sounding like her uptight 14 year old self, "It was a very woolly subject, incredibly speculative! But this is different, your magic is tied in with your soul and your wand channels that magic!"

Harry snorted in disbelief, "So how does your wand tell you who your soulmate is then, enlighten me?"

Hermione glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest once more, "If someone's wand feels friendly in your hand then Ollivander thinks it's linked to your soul. Either they are your soulmate, or you will have a very intense romantic relationship with them."

Harry was fairly certain his face had lost all of its colour in the space of about 2 seconds. Hermione frowned, instantly noticing the change in her friend, "Harry, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Harry said sheepishly as he got to his feet and threw some money onto the table, "But I have to get back to work."

"Harry-"

"Work, Hermione!" Harry called evasively as he practically ran from the coffee shop.

* * *

 _BANG. BANG. BANG._

"Harry, it is 4am," Neville yawned as he opened the door of his London flat, "And you are drenched. What the hell is going on?"

"I think Draco Malfoy is my soulmate."

Neville's eyebrows shot up so far that they were almost lost in his hair, "I think you better come in."

"Yeah." Harry muttered, and he stepped into the flat. He made his own way through to the living room and poured himself a glass of Neville's firewhiskey. Then he sat down in Neville's favourite armchair and sighed heavily.

"Make yourself at home then," Neville said sarcastically.

Harry would have rolled his eyes, or sniggered at the fact that Neville was wearing a fluffy pink dressing gown. But he was too caught up in his own drama (and he could guess that the dressing gown was Luna's from the fact it was way too small for Neville).

"So..." Neville said slowly as he leant in the doorway, "Malfoy?"

"Malfoy," Harry groaned, "Why does it have to be Malfoy?"

"When did this happen?" Neville asked in disbelieving amusement.

"Today!" Harry snapped, "Hermione told me about soul magic and wandlore. All of the shit she goes on about all of the time on our coffee dates. I do try and zone out to be honest, but I listened today and I wish I hadn't because apparently if a wand feels friendly in your hand it has something to do with soulmates and intense magic. Is it true? How does Luna's wand feel to you?"

Neville smiled slightly, "Friendly, it's about the only wand I can use when mine is out of reach."

"Well I stole Malfoy's wand in the war, and then returned it to him afterwards," Harry said, letting his head drop into his hands, "And it worked great for me, it was the friendliest wand I had ever felt!"

Neville snorted, "Well I know you're gay and all-"

"This isn't funny Neville!" Harry said, in a mildly panicked, but mostly annoyed, tone of voice.

Neville grinned, "So when did you fall in love with Draco Malfoy then? First year when you had your cute little midnight duel with him? Or maybe third year when he sent you notes in class? Or could it be 6th year when you stalked him and watched him piss in bathrooms? Or was it when you stole his _wand_ in the war?"

Harry glared at the man who was supposed to be one of his best friends, "You are _supposed_ to be supportive!"

Neville snorted, "I _am_ supportive. Let's face it Harry, you are here because Hermione would be way too high-strung to give you decent advice on this, and nobody else has the slightest clue that you are gay. Not even the idiot who shared a dorm with us for 7 years. I mean let's face it, anyone with ears could hear your dreams and the names Cedric and Draco came up way more than Cho and Ginny."

"God Neville, I hate you."

"No you don't."

"No, I don't. But I am so fucking confused," Harry said as he despaired, "Bloody Draco Malfoy! With his stupid slicked back hair-"

"- That you accidentally said you found sexy when it wasn't slicked back..."

"- And his unnervingly observant eyes. I mean grey is a terrible eye colour -"

"- That you said was entrancing..."

"- And the way he strutted around that school like he owned the place. The arrogant bloody arsehole that he is!"

"- Yeah and I seem to remember you telling me you liked egotistical guys. I mean you had a fling with Cormac McLaggen for Godric's sake."

"Ugh," Harry groaned, "I'm in love with Draco Malfoy."

"Yep."

Harry threw his head back and stared at the roof of Neville's living room, "What the fuck am I going to do?"

"Well generally you ask someone out on a date then see where things go from there," Neville smirked, "But knowing you and Malfoy, you would probably end up fucking in the bathroom within 5 minutes."

Harry glared at him, "Remember the whole supportive friend thing?"

"Harsh truths are sometimes necessary Harry," Neville said, he was enjoying this way too much and Harry hated him a little bit for it.

"Why did it have to be Draco Malfoy? If it had been anyone else I would have just asked them on a date, gone to the Muggle world. How the hell do you get Draco Malfoy to the Muggle world?"

Neville smirked slightly, "I'm reading the subtext here but all I'm hearing is 'how do I get into Draco Malfoy's trousers' to be honest."

Harry glared at his 'friend' one final time as he got to his feet, "Thanks Neville, this chat has been great. I love how supportive a friend you are, let's do this again sometime."

Neville ignored Harry's sarcasm, he simply gave him a kick out of the front door and said, "Yes let's, and next time let's not do it at 4am in the morning. Good luck trying to get Malfoy to screw you."

"Fuck you Neville."

"Goodnight Harry," Neville said in an overly cheerful tone as he shut the door in Harry's face.

* * *

"Uh...does Draco Malfoy work here?"

"Aye. What do you need doing?"

Harry fumbled slightly as he stood at the desk in the Apothecary in Diagon Alley. He was speaking to the Manager at the desk, and he knew that Draco brewed potions in the back-room, "Well I need you to pass on a message to him, from Harry Potter-"

"Potter?" Draco's voice said in disbelief as he stepped through from the back-room.

Harry inwardly cursed, "Uh Malfoy, hey. Can I have a quick word with you, in private?"

Draco looked entirely bemused but he let Harry into the dark back-room where he was brewing a batch of pepper-up potions. He shut the door behind the Gryffindor and looked at him pointedly, as if to say, 'I'm listening.'

"I have something I need to talk to you about," Harry said sheepishly, "And I was wondering if I could buy you a drink, to talk about it, later tonight."

"Potter," Draco said slowly, narrowing his eyes at the dark-haired man, "Are you asking me out?"

"No!" Harry said with a nervous laugh, "I just have to discuss something very important with you. And I thought if I bought you a drink you would be more inclined to discuss it."

"This is completely out of character Potter. Are you going to poison me, or kill me and throw me in a ditch somewhere?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrow at the man.

Harry scoffed, "I'm an Auror, Malfoy. Do you really think I'm that stupid? I know it's a weird request, but I'll explain it all later."

"Fine," Draco said after a long moment of silence, "But it's only because I'm curious."

Harry gave a relieved nod, "It has to be in the Muggle world so that nobody overhears."

Draco narrowed his eyes even more, "Just floo me an address and a time."

"Great, I have to get back to work now. See you," Harry said, making his escape as quickly as he could.

* * *

Harry was very nervous that night as he sat on a bench in the Muggle park where he had agreed to meet Draco. The minutes seem to last for hours as the sky darkened and the park slowly got quieter and quieter.

Eventually 9pm came, and Draco sat down next to Harry. He crossed his legs with ease and leant back, "I would have brought you coffee but I didn't know if you drank it."

"I'm an Auror."

Draco scoffed, "So you probably drink it black with no sugar."

Harry momentarily forgot his nervousness, "And you're an arse so you probably drink it with sugar cubes and cinnamon or caramel or something equally as pretentious."

"This is a pumpkin spiced latte actually."

"Exactly."

"Is this what you wanted to discuss, Potter? My taste in coffee?"

"No...I wanted to discuss something else of yours though...Your wand in fact," Harry said awkwardly.

"What?" Draco asked, momentarily disconcerted. In fact he nearly spilled coffee down himself until he brought his surprise under control, "I mean I had heard all of the gay rumours, but that's a bit forward, don't you think?"

Harry ignored the joke, his cheeks a little pink, "That's not what I meant, I mean I _am_ gay but-"

"What?" Draco asked again, his grey eyes wide with surprise, "You are?"

Harry frowned, "Yeah, isn't that fairly obvious? I mean I know Ron hadn't worked it out yet but I figured he was just totally clueless. He still hasn't clocked that Hermione's in love with him so-"

"Potter, you are rambling," Draco said, amusement shining in his eyes briefly, "And it wasn't obvious."

"Well...you know now," Harry said, feeling awkward again, "So your wand, the one that I sort of stole, sorry about that by the way-"

Draco waved his hand, "What about it?"

"Well do you know about wandlore and all of that stuff?" Harry asked, looking anywhere but at Draco.

"All I know is that the wand chooses the wizard. It goes deeper than that but wandlore is a very precise science and a difficult one to master," Draco said.

Harry nodded, "I know, Hermione's doing it and she loves it. She talks about it all of the time, and she told me this thing the other day which was...well I don't know. I want to test it, so take my wand."

Draco frowned as he looked at the wand, "Woah, you have to explain a little bit more than that."

Harry bit his lip, "It's complicated."

Draco got to his feet, "Well I am not touching that until you make it less complicated, and certainly not in a muggle park for crying out loud."

"Well where else do you suggest we go?" Harry asked irritably.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Just come back to my flat."

Harry's heart pounded a little too fast at those words. Fuck, it was like Cho Chang in 4th year all over again. Actually no, it was more like Cedric Diggory and the fantasies Harry had about prefects bathrooms...He pulled himself out of that reverie before it could take hold.

"Flat? What happened to the Manor?"

"For an Auror you aren't very up to date on current events," Draco said as Harry fell into step with him, "I sold the Manor months ago, and what does a single man need with an entire manor?"

"Well you'll need it when you get married and have kids, won't you?" Harry asked, prodding a little bit with that question.

Draco raised an eyebrow, "What are the chances of a gay man getting married and having kids?"

Harry's cheeks flushed, "Right, I didn't know that."

"Really?" Draco asked with false surprise, "I thought it was obvious."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Touché...although in hindsight it _was_ obvious. You hung out in trees to shout at people, that's pretty flamboyant."

A genuine smile played on Draco's lips slightly as they slipped into an alleyway. Draco told Harry the co-ordinates of his flat, and they both spun on their heel.

* * *

"So, the wandlore?"

"Right," Harry said as he played with the firewhiskey glass in his hand, "Hermione told me that wands were linked to soul magic."

"As in soulmates?"

Harry nodded, "Do you believe in that?"

Draco sighed, "I don't know. I've never had cause to, but I find it hard to believe that Granger does. I know her opinion on subjects like Divination..."

"This is different apparently, and it all comes from Ollivander so I know that it's true," Harry said as he set the glass down, "The thing is Malfoy, she said if someone's wand feels friendly in your hand it means they are your soulmate or you will have an intense romantic relationship with them."

"And?"

"And I stole your wand in the war," Harry said, finally managing to meet his curious, grey eyes, "And it worked for me, almost as well as my own wand. It felt..."

"...friendly in your hand?" Draco said quietly.

Harry nodded and held out his wand to the Slytherin once more, "So just humour me, please."

Draco looked at the wand tentatively and then took it from Harry. It buzzed immediately, and responded to Draco's touch with ease. Harry's face paled, and Draco simply uttered, "Fuck."

"That confirms that hunch," Harry said quietly as he took his wand back from a slightly dazed Draco Malfoy.

Draco nodded numbly, "Wait a minute, are you saying that you...?"

"Fancy you?" Harry asked, amusement sparkling in his green eyes, "Were you blind in school?"

"Were you?" Draco countered, "I literally climbed a tree to look cool and insult you when you walked by!"

"I stalked you for a whole year!"

"I know, it was downright creepy Potter! Why not just think of a rather inventive insult?"

"Why not just try and get yourself killed by a hippogriff to get my attention?"

"Well it worked, didn't it?"

Harry paused, aware that he and Draco had walked closer to each other with every insult. They were now standing, practically nose to nose, both breathing a little more heavily than they had been before.

"Is that why you shouted at me over the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables all of the time?" Harry asked with a grin, "Because you fancied me?"

Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Yes Potter, it was because I fancied you. Everything I did was to get your attention, alright? Are you happy now?"

Harry's grin became a smirk, and Draco's eyes involuntarily went to his lips, "Well, not quite yet."

Draco knew what Harry was going to do before he did it. He stepped forward and pressed Draco against the living room as his lips latched onto the Slytherins. Draco made a noise somewhere between a gasp and a moan, and his half empty glass of firewhiskey fell to the floor, instantly forgotten.

In a flash their hands were everywhere, Draco's in Harry's unruly, but surprisingly soft, black hair. Harry's roaming over Draco's body. They kissed like they argued, and like they duelled. It was aggressive, all biting and fighting for dominance, teeth clashed and there was that metallic taste of blood which in this situation oddly turned Harry on.

Draco involuntarily thrust his hips slightly, and Harry gasped into the kiss as he felt the other man's reaction to the kiss (and the groping) press hard against _his_ reaction to that very same thing. He didn't miss the smirk on Draco's lips as he reached for Harry's zipper, but before his hands (which were unsurprisingly soft) began their assault on Harry's body, one lucid thought did pass through his head.

He groaned, and thrust into Draco's hand, fumbling for the other man's zipper in the fairly dark room. He knew he would soon be lost to the oblivion of an orgasm induced by Draco fucking Malfoy, of all people.

But before he let that oblivion take him away, he thought to himself.

 _Well fuck this, Neville was right!_

 **THE END ;)**


	7. Harry Pines for the Late 90's

**...Harry Pines for the Late 90's**

 _ **A/N: Based on something I heard in a TV shot I watch called "Gogglebox." I love the two gay guys, I watch them and I'm constantly picturing Draco and Harry!**_

* * *

"Sometimes I wish I could go back to the 90's."

Draco frowned at his long-term boyfriend, "You spent the 90's being hunted by Voldemort. You got attacked by three headed dogs, giant snakes, werewolves, dragons and Death Eaters throughout that entire decade!"

Harry glanced at Draco in amusement, "I meant the late 90's. The golden days, when the war was becoming a distant memory and everyone partied like it was the millennium. Do you _remember_ the party at the Burrow for the millennium?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry, "I can't forget it after what you did to me in Ronald Weasley's bedroom. Why on earth are you being so nostalgic? It does not suit you."

"I'm turning 40 tomorrow," Harry said as he stared at his dress robes. They were hanging up at the end of the bed, ready to be worn for his big birthday party tomorrow evening, "I'm old, I want to be young again."

Draco scoffed, "There's being young again and then there's going back to the late 90's."

"What was wrong with the late 90's?" Harry objected.

Draco looked at Harry in amusement, "You had no sense of style, you had a terrible hairdo and you shagged women! Do you really want to go back to that?"

Harry shuddered slightly, "No..."

Draco smirked, "The only good thing about the late 90's was our rendezvous' in the bathroom of every official and unofficial event we attended and you let yourself get so caught up in how wrong it was."

"I was engaged, and you were married," Harry pointed out, "It _was_ wrong."

"Didn't stop you though," Draco smirked, "You even married the Weaslette and had kids with her."

"And _you_ had a kid too before your marriage fell apart," Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

Draco waved a hand, "The difference was that Astoria always knew that I was gay and had flings on the side for years. You spent years pretending you were straight and ravaging me in broom cupboards before you eventually got a divorce."

Harry sighed and glanced up at the ceiling, "You're right, the late 90's did suck. I can't believe I slept with women for so long..."

"Neither can I," Draco snorted, "I slept with Astoria once to make Scorpius, that was enough for me."

Harry laughed loudly at the remark and turned his head to the side, "But that party for the millennium..."

Draco grinned, "Yeah, that's a night I wouldn't mind reliving," he said, "Unless you're too old for it, of course."

Harry smirked at the challenge in his eyes, "Never."

 **THE END :)**


	8. Harry Realise's He's Obsessed with Draco

**...Harry Realises He's Obsessed With Draco  
**

 _ **A/N: Yet ANOTHER Drarry! Harry thinks he is becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy, and perhaps even stalking him. His friends stage an intervention, concerned that he is under some sort of curse, but it takes a rather unexpected turn.**_

 _ **Based on this tumblr post from pretentious-git;**_

" _ **Basically 6th year**_

 _ **Harry: Draco went to the bathroom**_

 _ **Harry: on the seventeenth of april**_

 _ **Harry: at 4:27 in the afternoon**_

 _ **Harry: on the fourth floor**_

 _ **Harry: six doors down from the charms room**_

 _ **Harry: has stayed in there for five minutes**_

 _ **Harry: twelve seconds**_

 _ **Harry: thirty two milliseconds**_

 _ **Harry: came out at 4:32**_

 _ **Harry: returned to class**_

 _ **Harry: in the arithmancy room**_

 _ **Harry: at 4:36**_

 _ **Harry: and is most definitely up to something**_

 _ **Ron: wtf."**_

* * *

Harry was beginning to get a little bit concerned. At first he had brushed off his friends teasing comments, but the more he thought about it the more he thought that maybe he was obsessed with Draco Malfoy.

He decided to broach the subject with Hermione, in the most subtle way he knew how.

"Hermione, what is the definition of obsession?"

Hermione frowned, but did not look up from her book, "What for?"

"It's for a Potions project I'm doing, on amortentia," Harry lied.

He was normally a very bad liar, but he had rehearsed that one and Hermione seemed to buy it. Or she was just pretending to buy it, he never knew with Hermione.

"According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word 'Obsession' can have various meanings," Hermione began matter of factly, "Including 'An idea, image, or influence which continually fills or troubles the mind; a compulsive interest or preoccupation'. Or it can also mean 'A recurrent, intrusive, inappropriate thought, impulse, or image causing significant distress or disturbance to social or occupational functioning."

Harry frowned, "Right."

"Shouldn't you have written that down, if this is for an assignment?" Hermione asked, turning the page of the Charms book she was reading.

"Oh crap, yeah," Harry lied.

Hermione rolled her eyes and handed him a piece of parchment, "I used a spell so that it wrote it as I said it. I know you rather well Harry, surprisingly enough."

Harry smiled slightly and accepted the parchment, "Thanks Hermione. Do you mind if I ask you a couple more questions?"

"Of course not," Hermione said, she _still_ hadn't looked at him.

"What does it mean by causing disturbance to social or occupational functioning?" Harry asked curiously.

"Causing a disturbance to social functioning means it is affecting ones social life. For example if someone stopped talking to their friends, or treated their friends like they were inferior because they suddenly got a girlfriend and wanted to spend all of their spare time with her rather than studying or spending time with their friends, that would be a case of an obsession causing disturbance to social functioning."

Harry tried not to laugh, because he knew Hermione would hate him for it. Her feelings for Ron were so obvious, and she still seemed to be in complete denial of them. Ron's fling with Lavender was pretty irritating though, so Harry was secretly hoping that it would soon be over too.

"Okay," Harry said, scribbling the basics of that down to make it look like he was actually needing this information for an essay, "And occupational function?"

"That's slightly different," Hermione said, closing her book and rubbing her eyes sleepily, "That would be if an obsession stopped ones general ability to function. For example if one could not sleep for thinking about the obsession. Or if it put them off of their food and therefore they were not supplying their body with the nutrients that it needed."

"Right, great," Harry said, scribbling that last part down too, "Thanks Hermione."

"You're welcome," Hermione said as she finally looked up at him. Her eyes were sparkling mischievously and that made Harry instantly nervous, "So by that model, I would argue that yes you _are_ obsessed with Draco Malfoy. All you think about is him, to the detriment of your ability to play Quidditch, eat, sleep and do anything other than watch that bloody map of yours."

Harry bit his cheek to stop himself from saying something rude, "I didn't ask you that."

"I read the subtext," Hermione said. Harry was sure he saw her smirk slightly as she got to her feet, grabbed her books and left the library.

* * *

Harry _was_ obsessed with Draco Malfoy. Worse than that, he was fairly certain that he was stalking him. And it wasn't just about him being a Death Eater anymore (although he definitely was, Harry was certain of that). But Harry had begun to notice that his hair was very nice before he slicked it back, and that he was actually very handsome when he smiled.

Thoughts like that about men were not uncommon to Harry. He had realised in his 4th year that he was at the very least bisexual, and more likely than not completely gay. That dream about Cedric Diggory in the Prefects bathroom had clinched it for him, he had to admit he wasn't straight when he woke up in covered in sweat that night. But thoughts like this about Draco Malfoy, they _were_ out of the ordinary, especially when Draco Malfoy was definitely a Death Eater (he hadn't proven it yet, but he would, it was only a matter of time!).

Hermione was clearly onto Harry, and Harry clearly could not lie to her. But he needed a favour, and he needed to ask someone who was smart enough to know the answer but who wouldn't look at him with narrowed eyes and interrogate him. Thus he sourced Luna in the study hall during one of his free periods. She smiled at him as he sat down next to her, and they whispered about Snape being a terrible Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, and Ron and Lavender's relationship being disgusting for a little while.

Harry eventually asked her the question that he wanted to ask when the teacher on duty (Professor Sinistra) went to help a student at the other side of the hall.

"Luna, what's the definition of the word stalking?"

Luna looked up thoughtfully, "That's an interesting question, Harry."

"It's for an extra-curricular piece of work I'm doing with Hagrid," Harry lied, "About hunting in the Forbidden Forest."

Luna hummed thoughtfully and pulled out the pencil that she kept behind her ear. She twirled it a few times and said, "Would you like the Oxford English Dictionary definition or George Gregory's Big Book of Humdinging Definitions, definition?"

"Uh, the Oxford definition will be fine," Harry said, his quill poised over his paper. He was going to make it look bloody realistic this time.

Luna gave a small nod, "Oh it can mean so many different things, isn't that the fabulous thing about words? In relation to animals it can mean 'To pursue or approach prey stealthily'. It can mean 'To walk with measured stiff or haughty strides'. But I suppose the most common definition is 'The act or an instance of stalking, or harassing another in an aggressive, often threatening and illegal manner'. It's against the law in wizarding Britain."

Harry frowned, "But what if someone was just following someone? Not being aggressive or threatening?"

Luna looked thoughtful, "Then why would someone follow someone?"

Harry shrugged, "Lots of reasons. To find out if they were hiding something, to find out where they were going or...just because they want to...know more about them."

Luna smiled slightly, "Then I suppose that's just following. Unless of course they are being obsessive about it, in which case it's a slightly different situation."

"Right," Harry said, his frown deepening.

Luna grabbed her bag and got to her feet, "So don't worry Harry. You aren't stalking Draco."

Harry's cheeks flushed with colour, but Luna had flounced out of the hall before Harry could say another word.

* * *

"I'm worried about Harry."

"So am I, Ron," Hermione said, chewing at her lip, "He's getting rather obsessed with Malfoy."

Ginny nodded her agreement, "I think we need to stage an intervention."

"We definitely need to stage an intervention, I found this under his pillow yesterday," Ron said, dropping a leather-bound book in Hermione's hand.

Hermione frowned as she looked at the cover, "Is this a diary?"

"It's more like a journal," Ron said distastefully, "Of everything that Malfoy does, look."

Hermione opened the journal warily, and read the page that it had opened on.

" _9.36am: Malfoy ate cereal for breakfast. Followed by pumpkin juice, and coffee. He drinks it with two cubes of sugar and no milk (who drinks coffee without milk anyway?)"_

Hermione frowned, "That's worrying."

Ginny nodded warily, "How much worse does it get?"

"Worse," Ron said, flicking to the latest page, "Read _that_."

Hermione read the latest page of the journal out loud, _"4.27pm. Malfoy went to the bathroom on the 4_ _th_ _floor. The bathroom was 6 doors down from the Charms room where he had just finished a class. He stayed in there for 5 minutes, 12 second and 32 milliseconds. He came out at 4.32pm and proceeded to his Arithmancy classroom on the 7_ _th_ _floor where he arrived and entered at 4.41pm. He is most definitely up to something."_

"What the hell are we going to do?" Ron asked.

"We need to talk to Luna, she'll know what to do," Ginny said.

* * *

"Oh I have the perfect idea!" Luna said eagerly when Ron, Hermione and Ginny approached her that night, "We can use this!"

"Luna, is that veritaserum?" Hermione asked in disbelief as Luna pulled a small bottle from her pocket.

Luna nodded, "I always keep a bottle in my pocket in case of emergencies."

"How does Snape not notice you stealing it?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"I don't steal it," Luna said as she put it back in her pocket, "I make it."

Ginny smirked as Hermione's jaw dropped, "You can make veritaserum? Luna you're in 5th year!"

Ginny grinned, "Hermione, you are _very_ smart but this is why you are not in Ravenclaw," she said teasingly.

Hermione looked put out by the comment, and Ron rolled his eyes, "Alright, we'll do it tomorrow night. We need to get to the bottom of this quickly, it's freaking me out."

"Okay," Luna said cheerfully, "Why are we using it?"

"Because Harry is stalking Malfoy, and its gotten to the point where he's keeping a journal on what he's doing. We need to know why," Ron said.

"Hmm," Luna hummed, "I'm sure he will tell us. Veritaserum can make you very impressionable, see you tomorrow!"

And she skipped off without a care in the world.

* * *

Harry loved his friends. But he didn't love being forced into an armchair, and having Veritaserum shoved down his throat. He hated the fuzzy feeling it gave him, the feeling that he wanted to tell everyone everything.

"We're really sorry about this Harry," Hermione said guiltily, "But Ron found your journal about Malfoy and we are really freaked out so we just have to check. Are you under any kind of curse?"

Harry frowned.

"Too vague," Ginny said, "Veritaserum only works if you are very specific. Harry, are you under the imperius curse?"

"No."

"Has anyone slipped you a potion recently that has influenced you?"

"No."

Hermione looked a little relieved, "Okay then Harry. Why are you keeping tabs on Malfoy?"

"He's a Death Eater," Harry replied.

"Yes, we know you think that," Hermione said calmly, "Which explains why you are following him. But why are you writing down what he's eating, and the way he likes his coffee and the amount of times a day that he combs his hair?"

Harry's cheeks began to turn red as he opened and closed his mouth several times.

"Merlin's balls! He's fighting veritaserum!" Ron said, his mouth open wide with amazement, "No one can do that!"

"He can fight it for a little while," Luna said, cocking her head at Harry, "But not forever. He is a very gifted wizard though."

Ron narrowed his eyes at Harry, "What are you hiding, Harry? Why don't you want to tell us why you're so obsessed with Malfoy?"

Eventually the veritaserum won out, and Harry blurted out, "Because I fancy him!"

A shocked silence rang in the Gryffindor common room.

"You're gay?" Ron asked in disbelief.

Hermione scoffed, "Honestly Ronald! Of course he is, it has been evident since 4th year!"

"Oh!" Luna said excitedly, "Did you ever kiss Cedric Diggory, Harry? I always thought he would be a very good kisser, Cho always said that he was."

"No, Luna! Cedric was about 3 years older than me," Harry said.

"Age is only a number, Harry," Luna said, sitting down on the edge of the armchair that he was tied to.

"You fancy Draco Malfoy?" Ginny asked in disbelief, "I can swallow the fact that you're gay. In fact it even makes sense of a lot of things...but Draco Malfoy? Why couldn't you fancy someone nice like Neville?"

Harry's cheeks flushed, "Neville's too hung up on you Ginny."

Ginny's eyes widened, "Me?"

Harry nodded, "He's liked you ever since 4th year and would you please quit asking me questions because these are really not my secrets to tell."

"Okay, sorry," Hermione said quickly, "So you are stalking Malfoy because you fancy him?"

"Yes."

"And what do you expect to get out of that exactly?" Ron asked with a frown.

Ginny grimaced, "Bad question, Ron."

Ron's cheeks flushed, "No, don't answer that!" he said quickly.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright well, do you have the antidote Luna?" Hermione asked, feeling very bad.

"Oh no, I don't carry the antidote with me, just the potion...oops."

Harry glared at them, "Guys, I can't stay like this!"

"It wears off in 24 hours Harry," Luna said with a smile, "See you tomorrow!"

"Luna!" shouted cursed as the Ravenclaw left the common room.

"I swear to Merlin, we did not know that!" Ron exclaimed as Harry turned his glare to his Gryffindor friends.

"Would you just let me up, please?" Harry asked irritably.

"Of course, sorry," Hermione said quickly, breaking the binds that tied him there.

Harry got to his feet and stormed upstairs. When Ron didn't immediately follow him to the dorm room, Harry assumed that he was gossiping with Hermione and Ginny about this development.

He kicked his bed angrily and Neville's head poked out from behind the curtains of his own bed, "What's wrong, Harry?"

"My friends just found out that I'm gay and that I'm stalking Draco Malfoy because I fancy him," Harry blurted out before he could stop himself, "And they gave me veritaserum but they have no bloody antidote!"

"What friends?" Neville asked, trying to conceal his amusement.

"Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna," Harry muttered angrily.

Neville frowned, "Why wasn't I included?"

"I think they knew you would tell me," Harry said miserably, "Plus, you really didn't want to be there."

"Why?" Neville asked warily.

"They asked me why I fancied Malfoy and not someone nice like you," Harry said as he sat down heavily on his bed, "And I said it was because you were too preoccupied with Ginny."

"In front of Ginny?" Neville asked as his face drained of colour.

Harry nodded, "I'm sorry, they gave me veritaserum!"

"I know, I know," Neville said quickly, "It's fine...and that's illegal, you know?"

Harry snorted, "What am I going to do, get all of my friends thrown in Azkaban?"

Neville smiled slightly, "It will wear off in 24 hours. It will be fine, I'll stick with you tomorrow and drag you away if anyone asks a question."

"Thanks Neville," Harry said, breathing a sigh of relief as he pulled the curtains around his bed so that he could attempt to get some sleeping.

* * *

It was remarkably easy to avoid being asked questions the following day. When Professors asked him questions he normally responded with "I don't know" because it was the truth. He figured he should probably start studying more, and from the sideways looks Hermione was giving him, he knew she felt the same.

It all fell apart after dinner when Harry was walking out to the greenhouses with Neville. He was going to help him with some extra-curricular work because it would get him away from all other humans who could ask him awkward questions.

They reached the entrance hall when Draco Malfoy stepped out of the dungeons. He scoffed, "What are you doing hanging out with Gryffindor's resident loser at this time of night, Potter?"

Harry glared at Draco, "He's not a loser, he's my friend. And we're going to the greenhouses."

Draco's eyes flashed, "Secret place to shag, is it?"

What Harry wanted to say was 'I'm not gay Malfoy, Neville's just my friend'. But that wasn't what came out.

"I wouldn't know since Neville is just my friend. I'd much rather shag you Malfoy."

Harry's face turned bright red the second the words had left his mouth. Draco's jaw dropped and he froze in the middle of the entrance hall.

Neville looked between them in disbelief, "He was hit by a spell that makes him talk nonsense Malfoy, don't listen to him."

"You're _gay_ Potter?"

Harry tried to fight it, but even with the veritaserum wearing off, he was helpless to fight the potion, "Probably, I can't exactly say for sure since I've never so much as kissed a guy but I definitely find them attractive and I've never exactly enjoyed kissing a girl."

Draco was astounded, "Longbottom! Why is he telling me this?"

"Because he's under veritaserum, but that's illegal so..." Neville trailed off.

Draco nodded, he understood the unspoken words of 'so shut your mouth'.

"Wait a minute Potter. Do you fancy _me_?"

"Malfoy, stop asking him questions!" Neville exclaimed.

"Of course I fancy you Malfoy. Are you blind? Why else would I be stalking you-"

Neville physically shut Harry up by putting his hand over his mouth.

"Stalking me?" Draco asked in disbelief. His elegant stature was completely gone as he stood in the hall, mouth agape.

Harry pushed Neville's hand away, "Well strictly speaking it's not stalking. It's following."

"You've been following me," Draco said slowly, "Because you fancy me?"

"And because I think you're a Death Eater," Harry said matter of factly, "Which is very confusing, fancying someone who is your arch enemy and who is also probably a Death Eater."

Draco looked very flustered. He took a step back, "Potter, we should talk about this sometime when you are not under veritaserum when this war is over and certainly not now."

"Right," Harry said with a frown.

Draco gave an awkward life, "Try not to die in the war."

"Okay," Harry said slowly.

"See you around," Draco added, backing away a little more.

Harry gave the blonde an awkward wave and he disappeared into the dungeons. Harry frowned at Neville, "Did that mean..."

"Yes, he likes you too," Neville said, rolling his eyes and placing his hand on Harry's back, "But let's get you to the greenhouse before you accidentally tell the entire school that you're in love with Draco Malfoy."

Harry gave a firm nod, "Great idea, thanks Nev."

Neville shook his head in amusement, "Don't mention it Harry."

 **The End :)  
**


	9. Draco and Harry are Competitive Fathers

**In Which Draco and Harry are Competitive Fathers  
**

 _ **A/N: Based on a tumblr prompt by 'shittyaus';**_

" _ **We're both single parents and our kids go to the same school and are best friends but we are ultimate rivals and our bake sale brownies are going to slaughter you and your kids' lame cupcakes."**_

* * *

Harry Potter still didn't like Draco Malfoy very much. However he was forced to see the man far more these days. The reason? Well his son Albus had come home for Christmas in his 1st year at Hogwarts with his new best friend, Scorpius Malfoy.

Harry could have groaned in frustration, but he was just glad that Albus had found a friend. He was fairly shy and he found it difficult to make friends. Harry was glad that he had at least one friend who wasn't one of his cousins.

This new friendship had threatened Harry and Draco's arch-enemy status however. With the war over and Voldemort gone Harry needed this. He couldn't lose his nemesis just because his son had decided to become the BFF of said nemesis's son. He was fairly certain that Draco felt the same because when they passed each other in the corridor a few weeks after this whole 'best friend' announcement they glared at each other. The glare wasn't the usual 'I fucking hate you Potter - yeah I fucking hate you too Malfoy', it was a whole different sort of glare. It was a glare of frustration.

These glares had been exchanged for a good few weeks before Harry and Draco finally found a way to modify their arch-enemy status. They could hardly go about their lives like they wanted to kill each other anymore. It wasn't a good example for the children after all. But they were never going to shake hands and become best buddies. So their rivalry was taken to a whole new level. It went from being a schoolboy rivalry to being a competitive Fathers rivalry (which, although Harry would never admit it, was so much more fun).

The whole thing got kicked into motion at the end of Albus and Scorpius's 1st year. The school year had closed with a parent-child Quidditch match for ages. Harry and Ginny had taken it in turns until this point to play with James. However this year they could both play, Harry entered with Albus and Ginny entered with James. Draco entered with Scorpius, and Harry seized the opportunity to best his rival once more.

"Al, we're going to kick the Malfoys arses," Harry said in their pre-game chat.

Albus frowned as he held his broomstick, "But Scorpius is my best friend."

"This is a competition son," Harry said, excitement gleaming in his eyes, "The winning team is the team that catch the snitch and score at least 50 points. We've got to be brutal."

"It's just for fun, Dad," Albus said.

Harry narrowed his eyes at Draco across the pitch, "It's a competition and we're going to win."

Draco narrowed his eyes right back at Harry.

"But Dad, I don't want to take it too seriously. Scorp and me are friends," Albus said logically.

Harry however, was no longer listening.

* * *

"We're going to beat those bloody Potters Scorp," Draco said firmly from the other side of the pitch.

Scorpius followed his Father's line of sight, "I know you don't like Al's Dad, but it's just a game."

"No, it's a competition and I'll be damned if I let _Potter_ win it," Draco said sternly, "We're going to beat them, alright?"

Scorpius shrugged, "Alright, I'll try. But I'm not playing dirty, Al is my best friend!"

Draco scoffed, "Friendship is for the weak Scorpius. You're a Slytherin, you're supposed to be ambitious. That means victory at all costs, even against friends."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "Because that worked so well for you and Grandad didn't it? Victory at all costs. It's a game Dad, stop being so dramatic."

"Dramatic?" Draco exclaimed.

"Yes," Scorpius said, sticking his nose into the air and stalking onto the pitch.

* * *

As it turned out, team Potter won that one. Harry grinned smugly at Draco as the blonde man stood with his arms crossed. Scorpius didn't look particularly bothered about the loss. Just like Al didn't look particularly excited about the win. But this wasn't about their sons, it was about Draco and Harry. They had their rivalry back, and it felt good.

"You're taking this whole rivalry thing quite seriously," Ginny murmured as they stood around drinking lemonade and eating cake after the match.

Harry scoffed, "It's Malfoy, of course I am."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, "Harry, ever since we divorced I've been waiting for you to announce you're running away with Malfoy."

Harry looked at her in disbelief, "What? Me and _Malfoy_? Ugh Ginny, what is wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with Ginny. In fact, she's very perceptive and completely right," Hermione said, appearing on Harry's other side with a smirk upon her face.

Harry shook his head at them both, "This is a rivalry Hermione. It's an intense rivalry. You two are just completely delusional."

"Of course we are!" Hermione called after him in amusement.

Ginny sighed in disbelief, "When is he going to admit that he's wanted Malfoy since he was Albus's age?"

"He'll probably still be denying it after he's slept with him," Hermione said with a pointed look.

Ginny just snorted in amusement.

* * *

Things _literally_ heated up in Albus and Scorpius's 2nd year. As part of a 'Get Ready for Work' week the whole year group had a business competition. The aim was essentially to market a baked product and then sell it. The student who sold the most won, and they received a prize of 100 points for their house.

Harry and Draco seized the chance.

"Peanut butter and salted caramel or red velvet cupcakes with vanilla icing?"

Albus looked at his Dad with a strange look, "How do you know so much about cupcakes?"

"I took a cupcake masterclass last night," Harry said matter of factly, "So that I could help you win this challenge."

"That's cheating," Albus pointed out.

"The rules only said not to use house elves, and the Malfoys will probably do that anyway," Harry said offhandedly, "Therefore it's not cheating. What do you think?"

"Uh peanut butter is an acquired taste and not everyone will like it," Albus replied.

"So red velvet it is then," Harry said, tying Ginny's old pink apron around his waist, "Let's win this competition Al!"

"Dad, why are you being so competitive?"

"I want you to make the most of these opportunities Al," Harry said, "I mean after all by the time _I_ was your age I had defeated a dark lord twice."

"Oh Merlin, not the 'when I was your age' chat again," Albus muttered under his breath, "Are you sure this has nothing to do with Scorp's Dad?"

Harry laughed loudly, and quite falsely, "Malfoy? Draco Malfoy? No, why would this have anything to do with Draco Malfoy? But it would be good to beat him wouldn't it, wipe that smug grin off of his attract- his face, yes his face."

Albus frowned at his Dad, "Okay...uh, well should we bake then?"

"Yes, let's bake," Harry said with a nod.

* * *

"So I was thinking of chocolate and orange-"

"Chocolate and orange?" Draco asked loudly, "No Scorp, no. You're thinking about this all wrong. We need an original idea, a delicious cupcake that will draw in the crowds! People don't want boring old cupcakes, they want new flavours, new textures, new experiences!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "Dad, this isn't one of your business meetings. It's a school competition, I just need to sell some cupcakes."

"Do you think the Potters will be making chocolate and orange cupcakes?" Draco asked, "Do you? No, they'll be making trifle cupcakes or treacle tart cupcakes or some other heinous desert that Potter likes so much. We have to do better than that to match them!"

"Dad, I really don't care about beating Al," Scorpius said loudly, "And it doesn't matter if Al wins because Slytherin will still get the 100 points!"

"But they will have been won by a Potter!" Draco exclaimed, "A Potter winning 100 points for Slytherin house, it's unthinkable! We need a fantastic cupcake idea Scorpius, something new, something exciting, something like...oreo cupcakes!"

Scorpius looked vaguely amused, "Alright. Do you actually know how to make cupcakes?"

"Of course I do," Draco scoffed, "I took a cupcake masterclass last week."

Scorpius shook his head, "Dad, you are taking this whole competitive Father thing way too far."

"Do you want to win this challenge or not?" Draco asked as he grabbed an apron, "We have cupcakes to make Scorp."

* * *

The day of the bake sale brought a further challenge. The placing of the stalls was alphabetical which meant that Albus's stand was right next to Scorpius's. Draco and Harry spent the entire day glaring at each other (or having eye sex, according to Ginny, but she was still being delusional about this entire thing), and competitively selling cupcakes. Draco would sell 2, so Harry would sweet talk someone into buying 4.

Both stands sold out by lunch time. They had won and therefore Scorpius and Albus drew and got 50 points each. Pansy shook her head in disbelief as she helped Draco clear up the stall while Scorpius and Albus whispered to each other a small distance away.

"You really think this is the best way to showcase your rivalry?" Pansy asked in amusement.

"Well it shows them, doesn't it?" Draco asked smugly, "Potter and Malfoy, rivalry still going strong."

"Draco, you two spent the last few days baking cupcakes with your sons and selling them competitively," Pansy smirked, "Do you really think it showcases that you and Potter have a hardcore rivalry? From where I'm standing it just makes you both look like single Fathers desperate to spend as much time with each other as possible."

Draco scoffed, "Why would I want to spend more time with Potter? I just want to beat him."

"Of course you do," Pansy said in a very patronising tone.

"I do!" Draco exclaimed.

"Uh-huh," Pansy said, walking away from Draco and casting an amused look back at him, "Keep telling yourself that sweetheart. See you in a few weeks Scorp!"

"Bye Aunt Pansy," Scorpius said with a smile and a wave.

* * *

To add to their competitive fathers rivalry, Harry and Draco had never managed to get through a single Board of Governors meeting without arguing. Bill chaired the meetings and even he lost patience with them sometimes.

"The house unity rules are important Malfoy! We don't want to go back to the kind of prejudices people like you had while we were in school!"

"I'm not suggesting that we do! I agree that the rules make sense, but why do the house unity tasks all have to be so muggle?"

"Because we're trying to show wizarding children that muggles are not so different from us to avoid creating another Voldemort!"

"But it's not fair on wizarding children and you are too blind to see that! We should be doing wizarding activities too, things muggle-borns might not have seen before. This should go both ways Potter."

"You prejudiced git!"

"Coming from the man who thinks he can say and do whatever he wants because he's the chosen one!"

Bill slammed his hand down on the table, "Shut up, both of you!" he snapped, "Sit, _now_!"

Draco and Harry returned to their seats, but they glared at each other for the entirety of the meeting after that.

* * *

Things only got worse. Harry gave a talk to Albus and Scorpius's Defence against the Dark Arts class so Draco came in and did a Potions workshop with the class. Harry became the new chairman of the duelling club when it was reinstated so Draco joined as a chaperone. That was how they had ended up in this position, staring each other down on a very familiar podium in Hogwarts' Great Hall.

"Scared, Potter?"

Harry's lips quirked into a smirk, "You wish," he said simply.

They both smirked one final time before turning and walking to their places. The duel began, and it was over within mere seconds. Harry knocked Draco down and disarmed him before he could get his 3rd spell out.

The students cheered and Harry grinned triumphantly. He walked to Draco and held out his hand, "Need a hand up, Malfoy?"

Draco rolled his eyes but accepted Harry's hand. Once he was on his feet he stalked off of the podium and Harry began to set up little duels based on age, height and size. When all of the students were duelling away quite happily he found his arm being gripped by Astoria Greengrass, formerly Astoria Malfoy.

Astoria was the Arithmancy Professor, but she and Harry had maybe had two conversations in his entire life and both of those conversations had been about Astoria's sister, Daphne, who was a fellow Auror.

"Uh Astoria, what are you doing?" Harry asked.

"Putting an end to this stupid rivalry," Astoria said matter of factly as she pushed Harry into the antechamber at the back of the Great Hall and locked the door.

Harry glanced over to Draco, "Uh...what was...that?"

" _This_ is an intervention," Hermione said from where she was standing against a glass unit with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Because you two are being ridiculous," Pansy said matter of factly as she stood next to Hermione.

"We hate each other, what do you expect?" Harry huffed, "Why did our sons have to become best friends?"

"You idiots don't hate each other," Pansy said irritably, "Are you really both so blind? You're pissed off that your sons are friends because you are seeing what you could have had if you had just shaken hands all those bloody years ago."

"And this 'rivalry' is a piece of crap," Hermione said bluntly, "All you are doing is making eyes at each other and competitively baking cupcakes with your children. Will you please just do us all a favour and go on a date or snog in a broom cupboard, whatever it takes to get this out of your system!"

"I don't think Al and Scorpius can handle another 5 years like these last two," Pansy said pointedly.

"Yes, think of your poor children here!" Hermione exclaimed.

At this Draco's shoulders slumped, "Ugh alright. Potter, just go on a bloody date with me."

Harry's eyes narrowed, "Uh...why?"

"Because if we don't these women that we call our best friends will never leave us alone," Draco said logically, "And they're right. Scorpius has been pulling away from me because I've been pushing him too hard to compete with Albus."

Harry sighed, "Al has been doing the same with me."

"So we'll go on a date and get it out of our system," Draco said simply, "Then we can go back to being responsible Fathers."

"One date," Harry agreed tentatively.

Draco nodded, "One date then we can forget that it ever happened."

"Deal."

* * *

 **5 YEARS LATER.**

"I can't believe my son is dating Rose Weasley!" Draco exclaimed as he threw the letter onto the table rather violently.

Harry turned around from the cooker, "Uh Draco, _you_ have been dating Harry Potter for the past 5 years. Is it really so bad that your son is dating a Weasley?"

"Yes!" Draco said frantically, "Me dating a Potter is one thing, Harry! You are from a pure-blood family at the very least, the Weasley's are blood traitors!"

"My Mum was a muggle-born," Harry said with a raised eyebrow, "So by that logic the Potters are blood traitors too. You're being a prat about this whole thing."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"He's dating the spawn of Ron Weasley and Hermione bloody Granger!"

"And? You have dinner with them once a month for the love of Godric!" Harry said, an amused smile making its way onto his face.

Draco groaned and sat down heavily, "So much for our one date rule."

"Well I was pretty tempted to stick around after what you did to me in the bathroom of that bar," Harry said with an amused grin, "And then low and behold I actually fell in love with you. That's what happens Draco, people fall in love. They can't control it, did you expect to fall in love with me?"

"Well unlike you I always knew I liked guys as well as girls," Draco said with a vaguely amused look, "So yes, I fancied you for bloody years. It took you long enough to work out that you fancied me."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Well ignoring my cluelessness, you get the point. Scorpius loves Rose, and Rose loves him. She's a lovely girl, she's a Ravenclaw, she's smart, she's funny, she's beautiful."

"She's a Weasley," Draco despaired, "What has become of my life? I'm dating a Potter and my son is going to marry a blood traitorous Weasley. My Father will be rolling in his grave, my Mother would be so disappointed."

"We have dinner with your Mother once a week, stop being a drama queen."

"I am not a drama queen! It's the end Harry, I can feel it. It's all over, my life is over, finished!"

"This is you not being a drama queen?" Harry muttered as he shook his head. He grabbed a quill and began to write on the back of the letter that Draco had so violently discarded.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked, narrowing his eyes at the dark haired man.

"I am telling Scorpius that we're very happy for him," Harry said as he scrawled onto the parchment, "And that his Father is far too excited to hold a quill steady to write him a response. I'm also telling him to invite Rose over to the house during the Easter holidays when he and Al come home."

Draco groaned and let his head fall into his hands, "I hate you."

"Yeah, I love you too," Harry said with an amused smile as he sent the letter back with Scorpius's owl.

 **THE END! :)**


	10. Draco & Harry are Teachers

**In Which Draco & Harry are Teachers  
**

 _ **A/N: Based on this tumblr post/prompt by 'alligotleftismybones';**_

" _ **I used to be the cool teacher until you arrived and I want to hate you for taking that away but I really want to just be like you."**_

* * *

Harry had taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for 5 years and he had never seen so many girls swoon in one day. There had been a couple of occasions when they had gotten close, like the time that an immaculate, elegant prince from Beauxbatons showed up on an exchange program. There had also been _his_ first day as a professor which frankly Harry had found incredibly embarrassing. His youngest son, Albus had been in 1st year and his eldest son James in 3rd year. They had been just as mortified by all of the girls who had been crushing on their Dad.

However that was 5 years ago, and this was now. James had graduated from Hogwarts last year, and Albus was now in his 5th year. His youngest child and only daughter Lily was in 3rd year, and things had died down quite a bit. He still held the title of the coolest teacher in school though. People loved his practical Defence against the Dark Arts lessons and his relaxed but also effective approach to final exams and assignments. He was Head of Gryffindor house too, which he took quite a lot of pride in.

But Harry was starting to wonder if his title was going to be challenged because a new teacher had rocked up and he had the girls in quite a stir. From the moment Draco Malfoy had swaggered (that was really the only word for it) into the great hall, the girls had been fainting left, right and centre.

To make matters worse Scorpius, Draco's only son, looked horrified. Harry hid his amused smile as the blonde boy let his head drop into his hands. He knew Scorpius fairly well because he and Albus were best friends. The girls at the Slytherin table stared as Draco walked towards the head table, his cloak swishing behind him and Albus patted Scorpius on the back sympathetically whilst hiding a wicked grin.

Harry caught his son's eye and winked. Albus grinned at his father behind Scorpius's back. He knew what Al was thinking, _payback_. Scorpius had teased him something rotten when all of the girls had fancied his Dad after all.

"Malfoy," Harry said politely as Draco took his seat next to him.

"Potter," Draco said just as politely.

They could get on now, for the sake of their children. Albus stayed at Malfoy Manor for entire Easter breaks sometimes and Scorpius had spent last Christmas at Potter House after throwing a tantrum and refusing to go to the Alps with his parents. They had gotten divorced earlier in the year and saw no point in cancelling their holiday, Scorpius did not want to listen to them arguing for the entire Christmas break however.

"You have caused quite a stir," Harry said with a slight smirk.

Draco glanced over the hall where several female students were still recovering, "I might take your title yet."

"What title would that be?" Harry asked smoothly.

"Scorpius tells me you are the coolest teacher here," Draco said, his eyes flashing, "I think I'll try to challenge that."

"Well you are welcome to try, Malfoy," Harry said, an air of smugness about him, "But I am the chosen one."

Draco rolled his eyes as Harry got to his feet and left the hall. He had a classroom to prepare after all.

* * *

"Isn't Professor Malfoy just the coolest?"

Harry's eyes narrowed as his ears picked up this conversation taking place in the corridor outside of his classroom. They were only two weeks into the term but already the entire school seemed to have been woo-ed by the charms of Draco Malfoy. Harry couldn't blame them, he was getting pretty woo-ed by those charms too after all.

"He's so dreamy!"

"And funny!"

"And his classes are super interesting! I've never loved Potions more!"

Harry rolled his eyes, his classes were interesting but not that interesting! Harry did an underwater class for his 3rd years! What could Draco Malfoy possibly do that was cooler than that?

"Didn't you think his logical puzzle about potions was so much fun?"

 _That wasn't even his idea_! Harry thought to himself, _he stole that from Hermione!_

Suddenly the conversation outside came to a stop and giggling commenced. Harry wondered what the interruption was briefly, but he did not have to wonder for long. The door opened and Draco Malfoy strutted in, Merlin he was majestic.

"Malfoy," Harry said evenly, "What can I do for you?"

"Have the rumours reached you yet?" Draco asked smoothly, "Do you tune in to the gossip?"

"I try to stay out of it," Harry said honestly, "I don't really care about who is kissing who and who has been caught in broom cupboards with who. But I have heard that the students seem to like you. In fact the exact words that I heard were dreamy and funny. Not words that I would attribute to you, Malfoy."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at him, "Well the students seem to think of you as ruggedly handsome. Frankly I think clueless and haphazard would be far better words."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Have you come here to taunt me? Because I do actually have some marking to do. Unlike you I don't just give my students fun logic puzzles that I have stolen from my enemy's best friend."

Draco looked vaguely amused, "Oh please, Granger and I do talk. In fact we could almost pass as acquaintances. I like some of your friends Potter, even if I can't abide you."

Harry narrowed his eyes at him, "You stole my title."

"What title would that be?" Draco asked with a smirk, "Coolest teacher in school?"

"No, the students seem to think that we are equal on that," Harry said honestly, "You do seem to best me in the hottest teacher ranks however and if I'm being entirely honest, I can't blame them for that."

"You think I'm attractive, Potter?" Draco asked, his lips quirking into an amused smile.

"You said it yourself, I'm haphazard," Harry chuckled, "So of course you are more attractive than me."

Draco leant in the doorway and was silent for a moment as he surveyed Harry, "I suppose I can see the appeal of ruggedly handsome. Prim and proper isn't everything after all."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "You think I'm attractive, Malfoy?" he asked, echoing the blonde man's earlier words.

Draco smirked properly at this, "I don't suppose you fancy using the first Hogsmeade weekend of term as an excuse to disappear for a few hours? There's a very nice pub off the beaten track, I'm sure you know the owner."

Harry laughed, "You're seriously asking me on a date to Seamus's tavern?"

"Well when you know the owner the drinks are free," Draco said with a slight smile, "And I find dates are far more enjoyable with free alcohol."

"Alright," Harry said, without really thinking about it, "It's a date."

 **THE END :)**


	11. Draco & Harry tell Ron & Hermione

**In Which Draco & Harry tell Ron & Hermione  
**

 _ **A/N: Based on this tumblr post by 'ferretandscarhead';**_

" _ **So I have this headcanon that when Harry and Draco decide to tell Hermione and Ron about them being together, Harry is about to knock at the door and Draco looks at him and whispers "scared, Potter?" And Harry just grabs his hand and knocks saying "you wish."."**_

* * *

"Stop freaking out."

"I'm not freaking out," Draco mumbled.

Harry shot his boyfriend a grin, "Draco, just enjoy the moment. It's Christmas Eve and we're in London, it's magical."

"It's a damn sight better than last Christmas," Draco agreed as he and Harry walked through Trafalgar square hand in hand.

"Tell me about it," Harry chuckled as they looked up at the huge, beautifully decorated Christmas tree, "I spent last Christmas half dead in a tent. I didn't even know it was Christmas Eve until we got to Godric's Hollow and heard the bells ringing."

Draco gave Harry's hand a small squeeze, "At least this New Year we can welcome in something good."

Harry smiled at Draco, "I'm pretty sure I already found something good."

Draco chuckled quietly, "You had better not be this cheesy when we get to Granger and Weasley's flat."

"I'll try not to be," Harry said honestly, "But you had better get into the habit of calling them Ron and Hermione."

"I still call you Potter sometimes," Draco pointed out, "Old habits die hard after all."

"They'll be okay with this you know," Harry said, seeing Draco's sarcasm for what it was. He was trying to defend himself from pain, he was trying to pretend that he wasn't nervous, "You and me."

"You really think Weasley is going to be okay with this?" Draco asked in disbelief.

Harry sighed as they waited in a large crowd to try and cross over the road, "In time, yeah. Hermione has always been far more accepting and open minded. She won't mind that I'm dating a guy, she might mind that you were a dick when we were at Hogwarts but she won't care about much else. Ron...he finds it a bit harder to accept things he's not used to."

"Like gays?" Draco asked bluntly.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Not exactly, have you met his brother Charlie? The whole family knows he's gay, they just don't talk about it. I think he might find it hard to accept that I'm dating a guy, and I think he'll find it especially hard to understand why I'm dating you."

"Well I wouldn't blame him," Draco said honestly, his hand a little sweaty in Harry's, "Because _I_ don't know why you're dating me. I find it easy to see why people won't accept this Harry, it's because I don't deserve you."

Harry looked irritated as he dragged Draco across the road and they slipped into an alleyway. It was a shortcut that Harry often used when he was visiting Ron and Hermione. They could have apparated easily, but Draco and Harry both loved Christmas and they both loved London at Christmastime. As much as anything else it gave them both a little time to get their nerves in check. It was stupid really, they were both nervous but they would never admit that to each other.

"I know you don't see it," Harry said, "But I don't think I'm any better than you. I know that you are really sorry for everything that you've done and I've seen you repent for your mistakes. Draco, they might not see that, but I do. I'm the one who sits up with you when you wake up twice every night screaming from the nightmares. I know that you're suffered just as much as I have."

Draco shook his head, "Don't be stupid, you suffered so much more. The last few years were hell for me, but Harry...your entire life was like that. You have always lived in fear, whether that was of the Dursley's or Snape or Voldemort. I spent a couple of years as a junior Death Eater being used as a punch-bag for pissed Death-Eaters, you can't compare us."

"Pain is pain," Harry said.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Don't start the cryptic Dumbledore shit again, please."

Harry smiled slightly at Draco, tightening his grip on his hand, "It's the way I feel and in time Ron and Hermione will understand too," he promised.

Draco sighed, he didn't believe that but he knew that Harry couldn't lie to his two best friends anymore. It had already been 2 months and it was killing Harry, he hated to lie at the best of the times. Lying to the two people who had stuck with him through thick and thin was just too much and Draco knew it wasn't fair to ask him to do that.

Harry dropped Draco's hand and said, "Come on," as he walked up the stairs to the back door of a tiny flat fairly close to the centre of London. There was a light on in the kitchen and they could hear a Christmas carol blaring out on the radio. Draco took a deep, slightly shaky breath and looked at Harry. If it wasn't for the fact he was so nervous he would have laughed at the fact that Harry had just done the same thing.

Draco couldn't help himself. Seeing Harry look so unsure of himself was a rare thing these days. His confidence had rocketed since the war, since he had been accepted into Auror training. Draco leant a little closer to him and whispered, "Scared, Potter?"

Harry laughed weakly, despite how nervous he was. He grinned at his boyfriend and grabbed his hand once more.

"You wish," Harry said quietly as he lifted his hand and knocked loudly on the door.

The sound of footsteps in the flat made their hearts pound faster. Someone fumbled with the lock and the door was finally pulled open. Ron and Hermione were both standing in the doorway and they did not seem to be surprised in the slightest when they saw that Draco was the mysterious date that Harry had told them about last week.

Their eyes went to Harry and Draco's linked hands, and Ron and Hermione then grinned at each other.

"About time!" Ron exclaimed, an amused look on his face.

Harry and Draco looked at each other, they had expected many outcomes but certainly not this one.

Hermione beamed, "We wondered when you were going to tell us! Come in, come in, oh and Merry Christmas!"

Harry stepped into the house, feeling completely bemused. Draco stepped in after him and could have fainted from shock when Hermione kissed him on the cheek and asked him what he wanted to drink.

Ron snorted at the look on Draco's face and led them into the living room. When they had managed to seat themselves together on the sofa, the redheaded man smiled and said, "You didn't really think we'd go mental, did you? I'm not going to praise your taste Harry, but life's too short to fall out about anything these days. Don't you think?"

Harry grinned proudly at his best friend and nodded, "Yeah, Merry Christmas Ron."

Ron smiled right back at him, "Merry Christmas," he said cheerfully, "Right Malfoy, do you play Monopoly? It's a family tradition."

Draco shook his head, completely stunned. But as Hermione handed him a firewhiskey and Ron began to explain the rules of Christmas Eve Monopoly, a smile began to form on his face. He had finally found somewhere he belonged.

 **THE END :)  
**


	12. Time Flies

**...Time Flies  
**

 _ **A/N: Based on this post from tumblr user 'sentence-fragments'.**_

 _ **"…They just grow up so fast."**_

* * *

"It feels like only yesterday you know," Harry said softly, "The day I held Rose and Ron and Hermione told me I would be her Godfather. Now here she is, a married woman. They just grow up so fast."

Draco Malfoy nodded from his spot next to Harry. They were watching the happy couple dancing gracefully around the floor.

"Whoever would have thought that a Weasley would become a Malfoy?" Draco asked, sounding torn between amusement and exasperation.

Harry had to bite back a smirk as he said, "Miracles do happen, Draco."

Draco smiled very slightly, "Clearly. You and I have become friends, we're even on a first name basis."

"Well that does tend to happen when you work in the same school as someone," Harry joked, "However big a school it is."

"Indeed," Draco agreed.

Harry was silent for a moment as he surveyed the room. His youngest child and only daughter, Lily, had been dragged onto the dancefloor by the boy she thought of as a big brother, his Godson Teddy. His actual eldest biological child, James, was flirting with one of Scorpius's friends on the side-lines. Harry had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at how typical they were of their birth rights. As he tore his eyes away, he found his other son Albus. He was smiling and holding a glass of champagne as he watched Rose and Scorpius laugh and dance.

"I thought he might have been a little upset today," Harry admitted, "With them being a trio and all. It's never easy when two members of a trio fall in love."

"So what's the solution then?" Draco asked, shooting Harry an amused look, "Marry one member's sister?"

Harry actually laughed, "That wasn't why I married Ginny, believe it or not. But Ron and Hermione did get married first and I felt as sad as I did happy in a lot of ways."

"It's different for those three," Draco said simply.

"Is it?" Harry asked, his eyes still on the trio, "I always thought Albus felt something for Scorpius. Just like I did for…."

"Hermione, I know," Draco said thoughtfully, "You and me both. She captivated a lot of us back in those days."

"And now you are in-laws," Harry said with a slight smile, "It's ironic, isn't it?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "Hardly. I mean that I felt a sense of kinship towards her. I wanted to be her friend, nothing more."

"Hmm. Do you think inside hes upset, or jealous?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head, "You really are clueless, aren't you?"

Harry frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Those three are close," Draco said slowly and clearly, "Closer than your trio ever were. Now stop being a romantic for a moment and think about this logically. The eldest child in every family needs to provide an heir, especially if that family is a pureblood one. Without an heir there is no one to continue the family name, the business, the legacy. Albus is lucky, he doesn't have that hanging over his head because James is your oldest child and-" he chanced a glance at James who had moved on to one of Scorpius's cousins, "-put bluntly, I doubt he will have a problem producing an heir."

Harry was frowning at Draco as he continued to explain, "The situation is different for Scorpius. I would never have pressured him into an arranged marriage like my parents did for Astoria and myself. You saw how that ended, and I would never have wished that upon anyone, especially my son. He does realise however that he needs an heir, because without one the Malfoy name dies out. I let him choose the woman who would give him that heir, I advised him that a friend was the best person to spend his life with. Someone who understood him, who he could have conversations with and who could make him happy, even if he wasn't inclined towards her in _that_ way. You see, a marriage with someone you don't love in that way is bearable if you love them in any way at all."

Harry's eyes widened as he finally began to understand where Draco was going with this, "Are you saying that Scorpius is…"

Draco simply nodded.

"And Rose knows?" Harry whispered.

Draco laughed, "Of course she knows. She is the daughter of Hermione Granger, one of the most perceptive people we know."

"And Albus…" Harry trailed off.

Draco nodded once more, "Expect your son to be an eternal bachelor. Expect him to always remain close to my son and his wife, expect them to go on holidays together."

Harry's eyes were still wide. He shook his head in disbelief, "How did I not see that?"

"Because you're Harry Potter, you're blind to affairs of the heart," Draco said, a different sort of tone in his voice as he did so.

Harry frowned slightly as he pondered those words. On the dance floor Rose caught Albus's eye and said, "Hey Al, come and join us!"

Albus laughed as he was dragged onto the dancefloor. He and Scorpius encircled Rose and danced around her, and it made Harry smile.

"By Merlin, you're right."

"I know," Draco said, a hint of smugness in his voice.

"But you also know far more about the need to provide an heir regardless of what yt better thaou want," Harry said, "And you know an awful lot about being forced into a loveless marriage. I think you understand your son's predicament a lon you pretend."

"What is it to you if I do?" Draco asked smoothly.

Harry looked away from Draco to his wife. Ginny was sitting with Hermione, they were both laughing and talking as they looked around the room.

"I understand more than you might think. I never felt like I had to produce an heir, but I was so lonely as a child. All that I ever wanted was children of my own, I wanted them to have siblings and loving parents. I understand marrying for love, even if it isn't the romantic kind. Best friends can raise children together, children who understand love and have known it all their life. My three are proof of that."

Draco tried to hide his surprise. But his eyes had widened ever so slightly. He looked away from Harry, "I never realised."

Harry smirked, "Hadn't you? Because I've always known about you Draco, and you say that I am the clueless one?"

Draco smiled and glanced over at him, "Touché."

Harry's smirk was still fresh on his face when he felt his hand being grabbed. He turned to see the face of his wife smiling cheekily at him, "Stop flirting with Malfoy, and come dance with me."

Harry laughed and turned to Draco, "Enjoy the wedding, Draco."

Draco chuckled and nodded, "You too, Harry."

 **THE END **

**A/N: WHY DOES EVERYTHING I WRITE END UP BEING DRARRY!**


	13. It is a Cold Day for August

**...It is a Cold Day for August**

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Draco sighed as he sat down on a damp bench and tried to ignore the drizzling rain.

He pulled his cloak tighter and shivered against the cold, "I hope you're doing better than I am. I'm managing I suppose, life is carrying on, like it always does."

Draco frowned and threw up a rain repelling charm as the drizzle turned into a downpour, "It's just that...nothing has been the same since the accident, do you know what I mean? There's just been this space in my life, a huge, empty hole."

He was vaguely aware of the warm tears sliding down his cold cheeks, but he didn't wipe them away, "I've gone back to work now which helps a little. It keeps the loneliness at bay at least. I'm still talking to myself when I'm alone in the house. I've gotten so used to you being there and replying, but you don't reply anymore and I don't know how long it's going to take me to get over that."

Draco swallowed the lump that was rising in his throat, "I just want to stop and let it all hit me, but I can't. I have to keep myself going for the sake of Scorpius and James. I have to at least pretend to be strong. They aren't quite old enough to understand it all yet, they know you're gone and sometimes they ask when you're coming back. I don't think they understand that you won't be coming back at all...they are only toddlers after all."

He felt sick, and the tears were flowing faster than ever. Draco took his gaze away from the ground and finally stared at the tombstone in front of him, "Because you haven't just gone away Harry. You died, you promised me that you would never leave us and you have."

Draco took a shaky breath as he tried to keep his emotions at bay, "I knew when I fell in love with you that it wouldn't end happily. I thought you would realise that you were with an idiotic coward. I thought I would say something stupid and you would leave. I never thought it would end like this though."

He raised his hand to wipe away the worst of the tears, "After everything you went through as a child why didn't you quit being an Auror when we adopted the boys? Sometimes I just feel so angry at you for choosing the life that you did."

Draco's hands had balled up into fists and his breaths were ragged. He _was_ angry but he also felt the most profound sense of loss, "If you hadn't been so stubborn then you would still be with us today instead of _gone_ like this. I'm so goddamn bitter because of you Harry, and I'm trying so hard not to be because I don't want to bring up our kids the way my Father brought me up. But it's a fucking vicious cycle, and it's so hard to break."

The grave didn't talk back. It just stood in front of Draco and got battered by the rain that was falling heavily from the sky. The words engraved forever in the stone were all that Draco had left of Harry.

 _Here lies_

 _Harry James Potter_

 _31_ _st_ _July 1980 to 3_ _rd_ _February 2008_

 _Beloved Husband, Father and Friend._

 _Death is but the last adventure._

"I can't do it without you, Harry," Draco whispered, his eyes burning as the tears refused to fall, "I can't be the kind of Father that they deserve without you."

He tore his gaze away from the stone and stared at the ground as the water and mud began to merge on the grassy knoll where Harry was buried. Just at the bottom of that small hill stood the graves of his Mother and Father.

Draco wiped his eyes for a final time and rose to his feet, cancelling the rain repelling charm. As his hair and clothes were soaked by the vicious rain he said, "So all I can do is come here and talk to your grave every day, like you can actually hear me. Everyone keeps saying that it's unhealthy but what else can I do?"

He glanced at the grave one final time before turning around and walking towards the kissing gate that would take him back into the town of Godric's Hollow where the house he and Harry had bought together was located. The house that they had decided to raise their twin children in, the house that now felt empty, cold and haunted all of the time.

Amidst the rain he had not noticed the shadowy figure sitting on a grave a little way away from Harry's. The shadowy figure that almost looked like Harry if you looked closely enough. It sighed as it watched Draco's retreating form and whispered, "I miss you too, Draco."

The whisper was carried by the wind towards the kissing gate.

Draco froze when he heard it and shivers were sent down his spine. He spun around and squinted through the rain for any sign that he wasn't alone in the graveyard. But it was too late, the shadowy figure was gone.

 **The End.**

 _ **A/N: Based on this tumblr post by 'xxfangirlonfirexx "hey how are you doing it's been a while hasn't it. yeah i guess i'm good but nothing's really been the same since the accident. i started talking to myself a lot lately and waiting for responses because i've been so used to you being there but now you're dead and oh look i'm crying over your grave au."**_


	14. Hate is a Strong Word

**...Hate is a Strong Word**

I thought my parents were in love, sickeningly in love actually. In love to the point of it being embarrassing.

When I (I'm James Sirius Potter by the way) went to Hogwarts all of those perceptions I had of my parents changed and it all started very subtly. Looking back, the first hint that my parent's life was not all that it seemed was in something Professor McGonagall had said on my first day.

I listened intently to her opening speech and when we were given our tasks, I immediately got to work. As she walked up and down she looked at our progress and when she reached me she paused.

"Very impressive Mr. Potter," She had said, "You certainly don't get your Transfiguration skills from your biological Father."

I laughed, "I know, my Dad is terrible at Transfiguration. It was my Father who taught me."

She smiled very slightly, it was the sort of smile that you could only see if you were really looking for it, "I can see that."

As she walked away she mumbled to herself thoughtfully, "Who would have thought?" and that sparked the smallest doubt in my head.

That doubt only grew as I progressed through my first year. I knew my Father had wronged in the past, but I never knew the full extent of it. The little comments about how unbelievable it was that my parents had raised me and my little brother Scorpius together never stopped though. The teachers made these comments, not my fellow students and I started to wonder what it was they knew.

Eventually, I asked, "What do you mean by that Professor McGonagall?"

She looked surprised, "Oh. Only that your parents weren't exactly friends when they went to Hogwarts together."

I frowned, "Because they were a Slytherin and a Gryffindor?" I asked.

She frowned, "That was part of it, yes. But perhaps this is something to ask your parents about."

That was all I got from that conversation. But as I asked more and more questions I grew to realise that my parents had not just 'not been friends'. By all accounts they had hated each other and this just didn't compute to me. Not until I was cornered by a group of Gryffindors who were much older than me in the common room one night.

"Potter," The tallest said as they boxed me in and towered over me.

I took a step back, "What do you want?"

"To ask you how you managed to worm your way into Gryffindor," Another of the boys said.

"Scum like you doesn't belong here," The third said.

I swallowed, "But my Dad was in Gryffindor-"

"Your Dad divorced your Mum because he was a pansy," The tallest said nastily.

"And the pansy he left her for is a Malfoy," The second said, "Malfoy's are Slytherin scum and so is everyone associated with them. You deserve to be in Slytherin, like him."

I didn't know what to say, and I couldn't take another step back without stepping into the fire.

The third boy said, "Malfoy killed my Uncle, and Jack's Aunt too. He was a Death Eater, sucking up Lord Voldemort's arse. I suppose he's sucking up your Dads now."

They all laughed and I felt tears prickling at my eyes. This was the first bad treatment I had gotten because of who my parents were and I wasn't prepared for it all.

"Look at the little pansy crying," The tallest chortled, he pushed me and I cried out as I nearly fell in the fire.

They left me alone after that, and as I sat in front of the fire I realised that everything I knew was a lie. The man I had called Father from about the age of 3 years old had been a Death Eater. He had fought on the other side of the war _against_ my Dad. I could see why my Dad had hated him, I could see why they had been enemies but I couldn't understand why they were together.

I never slept that night, tossing and turning and trying to make sense of my life. But when morning came, nothing was any clearer. It was a Saturday so I dressed myself and went to the person I trusted most, apart from my parents.

"James!" He said brightly when he opened the door to his quarters.

"Uncle Neville," I said miserably, stepping inside.

Neville frowned at me, "What's wrong?"

"Everything," I said miserably, flopping onto an armchair by the fire, "My Father was a Death Eater. He fought for Voldemort against my Dad."

Neville sighed, "That's not true. He was forced to become a Death Eater, James. His Father held him down while he was branded and his family forced him into that life. He was never against your Dad, in fact he did what he could to help him."

"How?"

"Well, it's complicated," Neville admitted, "But he saved your Dads life a few times during the war. And your Dad saved his life too."

I shook my head in disbelief, "But it doesn't make any sense Uncle Neville!" I exclaimed, "My Father was such an idiot! He bullied my Dad and they fought and they duelled all of the time! I mean how could they be together after that, it makes no sense at all!"

"Your Dad caused as many as those fights as your Father," Neville said wisely, "The blame for the animosity was 50/50 and I can assure you James, your parents love each other very much."

"But how?" I shouted, "You don't understand Uncle Nev, they _hated_ each other!"

Neville looked up at me and smiled, "Nah, they didn't."

I looked at my Uncle like he was mad.

"Trust me," Neville said, "I was there to witness it all. They never hated each other, they fought and they bickered like an old married couple. Just like they do now, but hate is a strong word James. They always liked each other, but neither of them admitted that for a very long time. You know what they say, little boys pull on little girls pigtails when they like them."

I snorted, "Or in this case little boys will duel little boys when they fancy them."

Neville laughed loudly, "Exactly. It doesn't matter how your parents story started, just that it's a happy one now."

I nodded slowly, "You're right."

Neville looked amused at the surprise in my voice, "And now if you are quite finished, do you want to join me for some breakfast?"

My worries now relieved I nodded and smiled, "Yes, please."

 **THE END**

 **A/N: Based on this post on tumblr from 'magicalfeminazi' but adapted slightly;**

" _I'm just imagining James Sirius going to Hogwarts and hearing all this stories about how Draco and Harry were always fighting and some one even shows him a picture somebody took of them in which Harry punched Draco. And he just can't understand how the parents he saw at home, disgustingly in love, could be the same people as in those stories._

 _And then he hears stories about his father Draco and he knew his dad had been a Death Eater but people say such horrible things and he begins to understand why Harry hated him. And he is so confuse. He goes to see his uncle Lupin and starts ranting about how was it posible that his parents were toghether and that Draco was such a jerk when he was young._

" _I can assure you your parents love each other very much, James" says Remus, his eyes not leaving the exams he was marking._

" _BUT HOW? You don't understand uncle Remus, he HATED him!" He cryes messing his hair._

 _Remus looks up and he is seeing James and Harry all over again and can't help but smile fondly._

" _Nah, he didn't"."_


	15. Draco & Harry are Aurors

**...Draco & Harry are Auror Partners  
**

"Can I just ask one question before we start?"

The Senior Auror on duty rolled his eyes, "What's the question Malfoy?"

"If we're training to be Aurors, why are we pretending to be criminals for this exercise?"

"Because to bring criminals down we have to understand how they work," Harry piped up.

"Precisely Potter," The Senior Auror said, "And I wouldn't have thought getting into the brain of a criminal would be too difficult for you Malfoy."

Malfoy looked visibly pissed off by the comment, but said nothing.

"And for speaking up, I'm going to make you go first. You're being paired with Potter. This is the scenario. You are robbing a bank, you have a hallway filled with lasers and you need to get to the other end without setting any off. Understood?"

Harry and Malfoy both nodded and the simulation room that they were in transformed to look like the underground hallway of a bank. Between them and the vault were hundreds of lasers.

"I've got this Potter," Malfoy said, determination glistening in his eyes.

Harry simply watched in amusement as Malfoy stepped forward. He was fully expecting him to set off the lasers within seconds. However, he managed to gracefully dodge every single one. In fact, it was like watching a dance because of the elegance and gracefulness of the routine.

It barely took Malfoy a minute to reach the end of the corridor, open the vault and smirk back at Harry very triumphantly, "Bet you couldn't have done that Potter."

Harry smiled and clapped, "Well done Malfoy, and you know, I probably couldn't have danced through the lasers. But I could have done this…"

He walked to a consumer unit on the wall, opened it and flicked a switch. Every single laser in the corridor turned off and Malfoy looked flabbergasted.

The Aurors and Auror trainers watching the scene descended into laughter as the fake corridor disappeared into the white simulation room.

"Seriously?" Malfoy raged as he stalked back into the centre of the room.

The Senior Auror who had been teasing Malfoy earlier managed to stop laughing for long enough to say, "And that's why we pair muggle-borns or half-bloods with purebloods, Malfoy."

Malfoy huffed irritably and crossed his arms over his chest.

Harry just smirked, rather wickedly at the man who had once been his schoolboy rival. Then the smile on his face vanished, "Wait…did you just make him my Auror partner?"

The Senior Auror grinned in response.

Harry and Draco caught each other's eyes as they looked at each other in disbelief.

"What?"

"No way!"

 _ **THE END**_

 _ **A/N: This was based on this prompt from 'otpdisaster' on Tumblr:**_

 _ **Your OTP as thieves. Person A watching, and complimenting how sexy B looks lithely weaving their way through the intricate network of deadly alarm lasers surrounding their target. A also make sure that B skillfully, gingerly, makes it all the way to the end end before A shuts the lasers off and just walks through. (Tumblr via otpdisaster).**_


	16. Trust is Broken

**...Trust is Broken  
**

"I thought I could trust you!"

"Well clearly you thought wrong."

Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy stood atop a tall tower in an English manor. They were partners in every sense of the word, but it was being Auror partners that had brought them here. Draco's wand was at Harry's throat, and Harry's wand lay abandoned very close to the towers edge. With one more gust of wind it would fall from the tower, never to be seen again.

Harry's eyes burned into Draco's, "Why would you do this Draco? Why would you go back to _him_?"

" _He_ is my Father," Draco hissed, "I don't expect you to understand the concept of family."

Harry's eyes flashed angrily, "How dare you use that against me? How can you just betray me like this?"

Draco refused to meet Harry's eyes, "I was using you Potter."

"You never meant any of it?" Harry asked, the disbelief tinged with pain.

Draco scoffed, "You're Harry Potter and I'm Draco Malfoy, of course I didn't. But using you was easy, and making you think that I loved you was even easier. I got you right where I wanted you, unarmed."

"And what are you going to do with me now?" Harry asked darkly, "Take me to your Father so that he can torture me and kill me?"

"No," Draco replied, his wand hand shaking very slightly, "He doesn't want you dead. He just wants this."

Harry frowned as he followed Draco's gaze. The blonde man leant down and picked up Harry's wand.

"My wand?" Harry asked, "What does he want with that?"

"He knows you fixed it with the Elder Wand," Draco replied.

"You told him that?" Harry asked angrily, "I trusted you with that information Draco! You knew how important it was that it didn't get into the wrong hands! With that wand he could manufacture a wand similar to the Elder Wand, he could become the next Dark Lord!"

"I know," Draco said coolly, "Why do you think he needs it?"

Harry was so angry, but he also felt incredibly stupid, "How did I ever trust you?" he spat with such venom, "How could I ever love a traitorous scumbag like you?"

Draco took a step back and visibly swallowed. It surprised Harry that the words had hurt him, considering what he was doing.

"After everything I did for you," Harry continued, "I saved you from Azkaban, I got you into Auror training with my recommendation, I told my friends you were different, I told the world that you had changed!"

"The joke is clearly on you then, Potter," Draco said, he took another step back with Harry's wand clenched tightly in his hand.

"Clearly," Harry said, an iciness to his voice that Draco had never heard before.

Draco looked at Harry for the first time upon that word and Harry saw a plethora of emotions swimming in those grey eyes. He saw hurt, sadness, pain and guilt all in the space of a few seconds.

"I'm sorry," Draco all but whispered.

Harry opened his mouth to ask what that meant, but before he could Draco had spun on his heel and disappeared from view.

...

Draco's heart pounded as he landed with a harsh thump at the gate of Malfoy Manor. He grabbed the gate and sucked in a long breath. He felt breathless, and he knew it wasn't because of a bad apparition trip. He shut his eyes tightly and tried not to let any tears fall as his breathing returned to normal.

His chest hurt from how hard his heart was pounding but he pulled himself up to his full height and tried not to let it show. He walked up the path and pushed open the door to the Manor, he was greeted by his Father's bodyguards in the entrance hall.

"Where is my Father?" Draco asked coolly.

"Drawing room," Goyle Senior grunted.

Draco bowed his head and climbed the stairs, trying to keep his cool. He could hear his own heart beating as he pushed open the door and stepped into the drawing room.

Lucius Malfoy smiled at him, "Excellent performance Draco."

"Where is he?" Draco asked, his cold stare burning into his Father.

"He is safe, as promised," Lucius replied, "But I will not reveal where until I have the item I asked you to retrieve."

Draco pulled Harry's holly and phoenix feather wand from his pocket and thrust it towards his Father.

Lucius took the wand gratefully and caressed it.

"I want to know where he is! I did everything that you asked," Draco said heatedly, "I took the wand, I betrayed the man that I-" he cut himself off.

Lucius only laughed, "Loved? It is a sweet concept Draco, but it is only a weakness. Look at what it did to you, look at how easy a target it made you."

Draco steadied his breath, "I did what you asked, tell me where he is."

Lucius rolled his eyes, "You always were impatient, even as a child."

"I will not ask you a second time," Draco hissed, pulling his wand from his pocket and holding it to his Father's head, "Where _is_ my son?"

Lucius raised his left hand carefully and clicked his fingers. A bookcase on the wall swivelled around, revealing a secret nook where Scorpius Malfoy was sitting on an armchair, clearly silenced.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief and dropped his wand. He rushed over to his 3 year old son and scooped him into his arms, mumbling the counter-curse to the silencing charm. Holding his son tightly he turned around and looked at his Father.

"Get out of my house."

" _Your_ house?" Lucius quipped.

"It stopped being your house when you were sent to Azkaban," Draco said firmly, "You lost the deeds and the rights to all of this property. I brought you the wand, but I can just as easily call the authorities and have them take it off of you. So get out of my house."

"As you wish," Lucius said, slipping the wand into his pocket and exiting the drawing room without another word.

"Where's Harry, Papa?" Scorpius asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"We won't be seeing Harry again," Draco said, trying to ignore the lump that was forming in his throat.

Scorpius frowned, "Why?"

"Because we're going to spend some time in France," Draco said, aware that he didn't have long to pack and get the hell out of Britain before the authorities came after him. He had abetted a known Death Eater and an escaped convict, he was facing 10 years in Azkaban and he couldn't do that to Scorpius. Ever since Astoria had died, Draco was all that the little boy had.

"Don't like France," Scorpius huffed.

"I don't care, that's where we have to go," Draco said, using the secret stairs at the back of the drawing room to get to his bedroom one floor up.

He placed Scorpius on the bed and pulled a suitcase out from underneath it. He was about to open his drawers and start throwing things into the case when he heard a noise from outside. It was a shout of some sort.

Draco froze and edged over to the window. He pulled back the heavy curtain very slightly and opened the window by a crack. When he peered out he realised that he was too late. The garden was full of Aurors, and at the front of that group was none other than Harry Potter.

"Lucius Malfoy, you are under arrest!" Harry was shouting, "Drop the wand, _now_!"

Draco could not see or hear his Father, but he assumed that he was on the doorstep of the manor. The Aurors had clearly been waiting for him. There was a scuffle and a few spells went off. Draco heard a shout and assumed that his Father had been stunned.

Harry turned around and addressed the rest of the Aurors, "Search the house for Scorpius Malfoy. I think Lucius blackmailed Draco by threatening his son. Search all hidden areas of the house, especially the secret room underneath the drawing room floor. Okay?"

Draco's eyes widened. The Aurors all nodded and barged into the house. He came back to reality with a snap when he heard footsteps on the stairs. If they found him like this it wouldn't help his case. He shoved the suitcase back under the bed and picked Scorpius up, holding him to his chest tightly as he had when he first found him.

He opened the bedroom door and walked slowly out onto the landing which looked down into the entrance hall.

"Auror Malfoy!" One of the Aurors shouted, "Have you retrieved your son?"

Draco nodded and sat down on the top step. His heart was still pounding at the thought of facing Harry after what he had done. He watched the door carefully and froze when the raven haired man walked in, slipping his wand back into his pocket and searching the entrance hall for Draco.

When their eyes met they lingered for a moment too long. Scorpius was practically asleep in Draco's arms after the drama of the day so Harry walked slowly up the stairs and sat down gently next to Draco.

"There will be an inquiry."

"I know."

"You'll have to submit your memories," Harry added.

"I know," Draco said.

Harry didn't take his eyes off of Draco, "You know what that means, don't you?"

"It means they'll find out that we were together," Draco said quietly, "Not that it matters, because we aren't anymore."

Harry frowned, "Aren't we?"

Draco looked at him in disbelief, "After what I just did?"

"You just stole my wand to save your son's life," Harry said calmly, "If it had been James, I would have done things exactly the same way. I even would have tipped off my Auror partner by throwing in a really out of context phrase like I'm sorry."

Draco sighed in relief, "So you did cotton on to that then."

"Of course I did," Harry said, his hand resting on Draco's knee, "And if it is alright with you I would quite like to still be together when this inquiry takes place."

"You're okay with the world finding out about us?" Draco asked quietly.

Harry smiled and slipped his hand into Draco's, "I think it's about time," he admitted.

Draco nodded and looked down at his sleeping son. He tightened his grip on Harry's hand and smiled at the shorter man, "Maybe it is."

 **THE END**

 _ **A/N: Based on a sentence start of "I thought I could trust you!" from 'writingforthefeels' blog on Tumblr.**_


	17. Harry Talks Draco Down

**...Harry talks Draco down  
**

 _ **A/N: This is based on two things. A song and a prompt. I'll put the prompt at the end so it doesn't spoil anything though. The song is called "Moments" and it's a country song by a band called Emerson Drive.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

The wind was howling and the snow was falling hard. I barely noticed my fingers turning blue as I gripped the bridge tightly. It was December in the Highlands of Scotland, of course it was cold. But I never noticed. My mind was elsewhere.

I thought I was alone. Nobody ever came out to the far flung ends of the grounds of Hogwarts in weather like this, and they especially never did so in the middle of the night.

Under any other circumstances the view would have been idyllic. The bridge I stood on connected the grounds with the real world. If anyone ever wanted to hike from Hogwarts to Edinburgh, then this would be the way to go. All around me were snow-capped mountains and below me the lake that fed the Black Lake rushed with a strong current.

"Don't do it."

The voice made me jump, but my grip remained firmly on the bridges barrier.

I never bothered turning around. I would recognise that voice anywhere. It made me both angry, frustrated and ashamed.

"This has nothing to do with you Potter."

"Nothing to do with me?" Harry objected, "You're my friend Draco, and I know things have been hard but this isn't the solution."

"Hard?" Draco asked, tears burning in his eyes, "Hard doesn't begin to describe it Potter! I have lost everything!"

"A divorce isn't the end of the world," Harry assured him, "If I managed to survive one then I'm sure you can. The press ripped me apart when Ginny and I divorced, they thought I was some sort of perfect hero and that my marriage should have been perfect too. You don't have such a high profile, you're lucky."

"I don't care what the press think of the divorce!" Draco exclaimed, "I care that Astoria is refusing me custody to my son. He is all I have, and I've lost him. So what do I have to live for?"

"You will get custody," Harry said softly, "There isn't any reason why you shouldn't. Astoria ended that marriage when she decided to have an affair. You are perfectly capable of looking after your son and the Wizengamot will realise that. You just have to give it a little bit of time."

"The Wizengamot?" Draco spat, "The biased court that do whatever they want? There are barely any purebloods left. All of the Weasley's will turn against me, I don't stand a chance."

"Alone, that's true," Harry said honestly, "But with me, it's a different story."

Draco scoffed, "And why would you want to help me, Potter?"

"I've helped you before," Harry admitted, "I vouched for you after the war to save you time in Azkaban. I gave Minerva a good reference when you applied for the Potions Master job. What makes you think I won't help you now?"

Draco frowned down at the rushing water, "Why did you do that?"

"Because you saved my life in the war, a couple of times actually," Harry replied, "And I'm pretty big on second chances. I can see how much you love your son, about as much as I love my two in fact. I would do anything for my children so of course I'm going to help you get access to your son."

Draco's grip was tighter than ever but he still had not looked at Harry. "It might not work."

"But it might," Harry said, "And you can't die if there's still a chance."

Draco took a step back and let go of the barrier. He turned his tearstained face to Harry's and saw relief flooding the shorter man's face.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I was worried about you so…I followed you," Harry admitted sheepishly.

"You were worried about me?" Draco countered.

Harry suddenly seemed nervous as he glanced down at the wooden bridge's rickety floor, "Sometimes you don't realise what someone means to you until you think you're going to lose them."

Draco rolled his eyes and hastily wiped his tears, "You're a cryptic fool like Dumbledore. You know that, don't you?"

Harry laughed weakly and nodded, "Yeah."

Draco smiled slightly and began to walk back along the bridge, "Come on. We have a long walk back."

Harry nodded, "Here, I thought you might need this."

From his cloak pocket he pulled out a jar full of magical fire. Draco took it gratefully and felt his hands finally begin to thaw.

"Thanks Potter," Draco said, meeting Harry's eye for the first time that night.

Harry smiled and said, "You're welcome."

Their walk back was in silence, but as the sun began to rise and thaw the snow, they both knew that it was the dawn of something new.

 _ **THE END**_

 _ **A/N: The prompt I based this on was this one from 'cutiepieprompts' on Tumblr:**_

" _ **Prompt #63: Imagine that Muse A meets Muse B when they see them standing on a bridge about to commit suicide. A tries to slowly coax B into coming down off the bridge, telling B that they care about them."**_


	18. Draco & Harry Have Sexual Tension

**...Draco & Harry Have Sexual Tension**

"I hate him!"

Daphne Greengrass rolled her eyes, "I won't even ask who."

Pansy snorted, "We all know exactly who you hate, Draco."

Draco glared at them both and sunk into the sofa in Daphne's office, "Shut up. What are you doing here anyway Pansy?"

"Having lunch with my friend," Pansy retorted, "I didn't think that was illegal."

"My office seems to be the place to be right now," Daphne said in amusement, "Did you really come all the way up here from the Auror office to rant about Potter?"

"Yes," Draco said irritably, "If I don't let off some steam I'm actually going to kill him and as he's my Auror partner I think that would be cause for losing my job. I still can't believe I got paired up with him, I mean what kind of stupid compatibility test do they use?"

"An effective one," Daphne replied, "Muggles have this thing called good cop, bad cop."

"What the hell is a cop?"

"Muggle version of an Auror," Pansy replied lazily.

Daphne nodded, "So the bad cop, that's you, goes in and scares the shit out of the suspect. Then the good cop goes in and fixes everything. The combined effort gets the suspect to hand over his information."

Draco rolled his eyes, "That's ridiculous. I mean surely a prerequisite for being someone's Auror partner is that you get on? I spend every day with Potter and his infuriating morals. He gets under my skin to the point that I just want to scream at him."

"Sounds more like sexual tension than hatred to me," Daphne smirked.

"It always has been!" Pansy exclaimed, "What you called a schoolboy rivalry was a front for the fact you liked to get up in each other's faces and flirt! You were ridiculous Draco, shouting across the entire great hall just to taunt him."

"Not to mention that one time you climbed a tree just to look cool while insulting him," Daphne added, "And he's all you ever talk about. Even back then, all you did was talk about Potter."

"One time you even said he had infuriatingly green eyes," Pansy pointed out.

"And that his mess of hair was annoyingly distracting," Daphne said, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

Draco rolled his eyes, "So? I can find him attractive and still hate him."

"So you admit that you find him attractive?" Pansy asked in amusement, "Well that's a first, Theo, Blaise, Daph and I have been trying to get you to admit that for _years_."

Draco scoffed, "Oh get off it Pansy. Everyone thinks he's attractive, that means nothing. You both think he's attractive."

"Yes," Daphne agreed, "He is very agreeable looking these days."

"Being an Auror does suit him," Pansy admitted, "But neither of us spend our whole lunch break talking about him every single day."

"Neither of us said his name in our sleep all through Hogwarts either," Daphne said with a wicked smirk.

Draco's eyes widened, "How did you…"

"I've dated Theo since 6th year, Draco," Daphne said matter of factly as Pansy cackled, "He tells me these things."

"Fucking bastard," Draco mumbled under his breath.

"So just admit it," Daphne said.

"Admit what?" Draco asked.

"Don't play dumb here," Pansy said, "Admit that you fancy the pants off of Harry Potter."

Draco pushed himself to his feet irritably, "Fine! I do! He's an infuriating pain in the fucking arse but I do!" he turned to leave, exclaiming, "Happy now?"

He stopped in his tracks when he saw Harry standing in the door of the office. He had a rather cute half smile on his face, and all of the colour drained from Draco's face when he saw him.

"Yes," Harry said cheerfully, "I am actually."

Draco gaped at him rather unattractively, "How long have you been standing there?"

"Longer than you'd like," Harry said, the smallest hint of a smirk reaching his face.

Draco wanted the ground to swallow him up, "I…well…the thing is…"

Harry's smirk widened, "We have a case. Two muggles found dead in Hackney, looks like a witch or wizard was the culprit."

"Right," Draco said, trying to regain his composure.

"And when we're finished, we're going out for a drink," Harry said, shooting Daphne and Pansy an amused grin, "To resolve this sexual tension that everyone seems to have noticed."

Draco looked mortified as Daphne and Pansy laughed at these words. He just shook his head and darted from the room as fast as he possibly could.

 **THE END**

 **A/N: Based on a dialogue prompt I found on Pinterest:**

" _ **How long have you been standing there?"**_

" _ **Longer than you'd like."**_


	19. Harry Breaks Draco's Heart

**...Harry Breaks Draco's Heart  
**

 _ **A/N: Based on this tumblr post by 'kulturbanausen',**_

" _ **How do you go back to being strangers with someone who has seen your soul?"**_

* * *

Traditionally Gryffindors were brave and Slytherins were cowards. Gryffindors were heroes and Slytherins were villains. Those were the typical stereotypes attached to those two Hogwarts houses.

But they were not always true. Peter Pettigrew had been a cowardly Gryffindor and Regulus Black had been a brave Slytherin. As these stories began to be told the world began to see that the lines between good and evil were very much blurred.

Harry Potter was, statistically speaking, one of the bravest Gryffindors since Godric himself. And Draco Malfoy, well he was the coward who had been hugged by Voldemort as he ran away. It should have been clear which one was brave and which one was the coward in that relationship, but the lines had been blurred.

Draco sighed heavily as the man in question walked past him without a word or even a glance. How could he go back to acting as if they were strangers after everything they had experienced together? He had loved Harry Potter, he had loved him more than he had ever loved another human in his life. He had been willing to give up everything for Harry just weeks into their short love affair.

Draco was willing to betray his family, to be disowned, to lose his Father. He was ready to lose his fortune, his name and everything that he had once held so dearly. What had begun as a drunken one night stand after the war had become a full blown fling. For Draco it was so much more than sex, and Harry _knew_ that.

But the war had changed Harry. He wasn't innocent or pure anymore. Whatever had happened to him on the run, or in the forest, had changed him. He was cold, bitter, and sometimes he seemed to be without emotion. Draco had hoped that he felt _something,_ that it wasn't just about the physical aspect of their relationship.

He had clearly been wrong. Harry was the coward in this instance. Draco was going to give up everything for Harry, but Harry would not sacrifice a single thing for Draco. He was too afraid of what the Weasley's would say, he was too afraid of losing Ron and Hermione. He was afraid of what the press would say, of what the Prophet would write about him. He was afraid that he would become hated, that everyone would turn against him.

For a Gryffindor, he was acting like a complete coward and it made Draco so angry.

So, to avoid having to face his fears Harry shut down and pretended that he felt nothing. Draco hoped that was what he was doing, because if it wasn't...well it meant that Harry really didn't feel anything for him, and never had.

He just didn't know how Harry could do it. Draco was trying to act like he didn't care, but he did. He cared so much, too much. Going back to being strangers just wasn't an option for him. He had bared his soul to Harry, he had shared with him his greatest fears. He had cried with regret for everything that he had done and had been forced to do in the war. And Harry had held him and made him feel human again, he had showed him that he wasn't the monster that everyone painted him to be.

How could he just forget about all of that, like none of it mattered at all? It was killing Draco inside, but he knew that there was nothing he could do. If Harry was so terrified of the world's perception of their relationship, Draco could not change that.

So he had to swallow the pain and try to pretend, like Harry was, that none of it had ever meant anything to him.

But it had, oh god, it had.

 **THE END.**


	20. They are Stranded on a Desert Island

**...They are Stranded on a Desert Island  
**

"Potter! Why are you not freaking out?"

Harry glanced over his shoulder at the blonde man, "Why would I be freaking out?"

Draco looked at the Gryffindor in disbelief, "Have you _seen_ the flock of Hippogriffs chasing us?"

"They aren't chasing us, they're following us," Harry said matter of factly, pausing to take off his shoes, "And they're a herd, not a flock."

Draco walked into the back of him, "Following - humph! Potter! They are ravenous, dangerous beasts-"

"Only if you call them that," Harry said, abandoning his shoes on the beach and continuing to walk through the warm sand in his bare feet, "If you treat them well Hippogriffs are actually very kind creatures. Also, they don't eat humans."

"How do you know?" Draco asked sceptically.

"I actually paid attention in Care of Magical Creatures," Harry smirked.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Why are they following us then?"

"Because they can feel magic and they know that I'm using it right now. They think that we'll lead them to a water source if they follow us," Harry yawned, glancing up at the darkening sky, "But at this rate I don't think we'll reach that water source before nightfall."

"What do you think lives on this island after nightfall?" Draco asked warily.

"The same things that live on it during the day I expect," Harry said sarcastically, "Unless there's a particularly evil beast that just flies to this island at night to terrorise it."

Draco glared at him, "Potter, I'm serious! There could be werewolves or Acromantula living on this island that will be waking up soon!"

"Werewolves don't like water so we're safe on the beach," Harry said with a wave of his hand, "And Acromantula talk, you can reason with them for long enough to confuse them before running the hell away."

Draco narrowed his eyes at the raven-haired man, "Why are you not freaking out?"

"For multiple reasons," Harry replied, coming to a stop for a second time.

"What are - humph! Would you _stop_ doing that?" Draco huffed.

Harry ignored him, surveying the scene carefully, "I think this is a good place to stop for the night. It's a wide stretch of open beach, safe from anything that might be living in that forest. It's going to get dark really quickly here, I'm guessing we're near the equator."

"Why are you so calm?" Draco asked again.

Harry finally turned around to face Draco properly, "Three reasons, I'm not a coward like you, this isn't even real and I spent a year on the run."

Draco glared at him, "I'm not a coward, I risked everything to help _your_ side in the war. I swear, you have a short fucking memory. And just so you know, there's not anything saying that we can't die in simulation."

"Yes there is," Harry said, pulling his wand from the waistband of his trousers, "It was in the small print of the contract."

"Was it?" Draco asked in surprise.

"Uh-huh," Harry said, raising his wand, "We can't die in field simulations, we can get grievously injured but when we wake up we're fine. It's like waking from a dream. Next year when we start doing real field work there are no guarantees, but that's next year."

"You read the contract that thoroughly?" Draco asked sceptically, "That doesn't sound like you."

Harry grinned sheepishly at him, "I didn't, Hermione did."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Figures."

Harry chuckled, "Anyway, make yourself useful. Can you start the campfire while I put up protection charms for the night?"

"Sure," Draco said.

"Thank you," Harry said gratefully, "Salvio Hexia..."

Draco frowned as he looked around the darkening beach, "Potter..."

"Salvio Hexia," Harry said again as he walked around Draco in a circle, "What?"

"There isn't any wood," Draco said, rather stupidly.

"Salvio - There isn't any fucking wood? Holy Mother of Godric! Are you a wizard or not?" Harry exclaimed, forgetting his protective enchantment as he stared at Draco in disbelief and horror.

Draco's cheeks burned bright pink, "Right, Accio wood."

The wood came hurtling from the forest and Harry let his wand drop to his side, "You could have just created a magical fire."

"But then Ashwinders would have come out of it!" Draco exclaimed.

"Only if you left it alone for hours!" Harry argued.

"Conjuring wood was still safer," Draco said firmly.

Harry sighed in disbelief, "Merlin, I need to set you and Hermione up. She forgot she was a Witch too. Mind you, she was _11_ not _20 fucking years old_."

Draco glared at him, "Oh fuck off Potter! Haven't you noticed the herd of Hippogriffs staring at us? It kind of puts me under pressure!"

"Well not everyone is terrified of Hippogriffs," Harry muttered, "Because not everyone is an idiot who decided to insult one."

"I was 13!"

"But as much of an idiot then as you are now," Harry said, far too sassily.

Draco groaned, "I'm going to fail this simulation test, aren't I?"

"I hope so," Harry said, throwing himself onto the sand, "Because I seriously can't deal with you being my Auror partner. You are an incompetent pain in the arse."

"Well you're a show off!" Draco remarked.

"Oh shut up or I'll feed you to the Hippogriffs," Harry said offhandedly, "They look pretty hungry, don't you think?"

Draco's face paled, "I thought you said they didn't eat humans."

"Normally they don't," Harry admitted, "But this is a desert island and those Hippogriff's look starving."

Draco edged closer to him, "So you're in charge then, yeah?"

Harry smirked, "Sure. Now, can you be quiet while I finish these protection charms?"

Draco nodded, "Right, okay. What can I do to help?"

"Make some sort of shelter," Harry said distractedly.

"Okay," Draco said with a nod.

Harry continued to walk in a circle and cast the protective charms, "Protego Totalum..."

"Shelter," Draco mumbled, "But Potter, we don't have a tent."

"Protego Horribilis," Harry glared at Draco, "Did you pay _any_ attention in Basic Survival classes?"

"I missed the class about what to do without a tent," Draco said sheepishly, "I was at the London Fashion Show."

"Oh Merlin help me," Harry murmured, "Look Malfoy - Protego Totalum - Just make any kind of shelter, okay? Build it out of wood, make a ditch in the sand, just do _something_."

Draco nodded slowly before conjuring more wood and clattering around loudly as he tried to build a shelter. Harry rolled his eyes and continued casting protective charms. When he was finished he turned around to see Draco's shelter.

"What the fuck is that?"

"It's a basic shelter!" Draco exclaimed, "Like you said!"

Harry cast his eyes over the 'shelter'. It consisted of two wooden posts with a shirt draped over the top, Draco's shirt.

"Do you really think that's going to keep us both dry if it rains tonight?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"It will keep me dry," Draco said simply, "You can build your own fucking shelter."

"Did you miss the whole emphasis on team work when we were briefed on this test?" Harry asked irritably.

"I am not adept at this sort of thing! Give me a puzzle to solve or a bad guy to duel, don't chuck me on a desert island for Salazar's Sake! I spent my life as a privileged little brat, how am I supposed to know how to do shit like this?" Draco huffed.

"You should have listened in class, like everyone else," Harry said irritably, transfiguring Draco's shirt into a waterproof roof for the shelter, "Wasn't Transfiguration your best subject at school?"

"Second best to Potions," Draco muttered, "And I didn't think of doing that, did I?"

"Clearly not, or you would have done it," Harry said, sitting down under the shelter, "Can you at least get food without cocking it up?"

"What kind of food?" Draco asked, "Because all I've seen are coconuts and I'm allergic to them. I can't even touch them or I come up in this horrible rash, it's like spattergroit honestly, it doesn't make me attractive."

"You aren't attractive at the best of times anyway," Harry said with a pointed look at him, "And there has to be more food than coconuts on this island."

Draco looked out over the beach thoughtfully, "Can you eat Hippogriff meat?"

"If you want to be eaten by the rest of the herd, sure," Harry said sarcastically, "And I can't see you skinning and gutting anything anyway. You're a bloody baby."

"I prefer pampered brat," Draco said.

"I don't care what you prefer," Harry said, getting to his feet irritably, "Stay here while I go and find food. Don't touch anything and don't try and kill anything, alright?"

Draco nodded huffily as Harry stalked off towards the forest. When he returned with his arms full of fruit he saw a strange sight coming from the campsite. He frowned as he neared it and eventually realised that it was on fire and Draco was hopping around madly trying to put out the fire on his trouser leg.

"What the hell did you do?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"The bird!" Draco shrieked, pointing to a wicked looking bird that was resting on top of their burning shelter, "Can you put out this fire please?"

Harry rolled his eyes and pushed Draco into the ocean. He emerged, spluttering and looking fuming, "What was that for?"

"I was putting out the fire," Harry said casually, "What did you do to that bird?"

"I tried to kill it, for food," Draco began to say, "But then it breathed fire on the campsite. How can it even - aghhhhhh!"

"It's a fire jay, you idiot!" Harry said as the bird in question flew towards the forest, "And I told you not to try and kill anything!"

Draco wasn't paying attention to Harry anymore however. He was hopping about the beach on one foot yelping like a dog that was being tortured. Harry realised why when he looked at Draco's left foot. He had trodden on a shrake, a magical creature that looked like a squid and dug in its spikes when it was trodden on.

Harry was past exasperated when he pushed Draco onto the sand, pulled the shrake off of his foot and threw it back into the ocean. He crossed his arms and looked down at the blonde man, "You are fucking useless, do you know that?"

"I told you, desert islands are not my strong point," Draco whined as he nursed his foot.

"Well you have managed to fail to find food and you set fire to our shelter," Harry said irritably, "So you have definitely failed this task."

"What does that mean?" Draco asked.

"Didn't you pay any attention going into this?" Harry asked, he couldn't believe Draco.

"I knew it was a test," Draco said sheepishly.

"It was a test to determine who would be the Senior Auror among the pairs," Harry said, smirking down at the blonde.

Draco's eyes widened, "Shit!"

Harry's smirk widened, "I know, that means I'm going to be the Senior Auror and I can't wait to boss you-"

"No!" Draco exclaimed, pointing to a spot behind Harry, "The fire jay set a magical fire! There's an ashwinder!"

Harry spun around and sighed heavily, "Fantastic. Malfoy, can you just go to the other side of the beach so that I can finish this task?"

Draco nodded warily and backed away, "Sure...yeah...see you."

...

"And _that_ is how I ended up being the Senior Auror in that partnership," Harry finished, after telling this story to a group of new recruits.

Draco rolled his eyes in Harry's general direction, "And the lesson to be learned from that story is-"

"Don't be a coward in simulation because you _will_ get owned by your Auror partner," Harry finished cheerfully, to a roar of laughter from the recruits.

"I was _going_ to say because you will get demoted," Draco admitted, "But that works too."

Harry smirked at Draco before turning back to the recruits, "Have fun in Auror training kids!"

 **THE END**

 _ **A/N: Based on a prompt from 'otp-prompts' on Tumblr. This prompt;**_

 _ **Imagine your OTP stranded on a deserted island. Person A is a survivalist expert but Person B has no idea what they're doing and every attempt they make to help messes up what A is doing to make sure they have food and shelter. A banishes B to the other side of the beach where B passes their time pouting.**_


End file.
